13 WTHRHaitian-Americans worried for family, friends

Haitian-Americans worried for family, friends

Cat Andersen/Eyewitness News

Noblesville - The devastation in Haiti is particularly distressing for those with friends and family who are struggling in the aftermath. In many cases, they're trying to find out if their loved ones are still alive and uninjured.

Leonce Jean-Baptiste shared pictures with Eyewitness News sent to him by family, friends and neighbors in Haiti. The photos show the panic, horror and helplessness.

"That's generally how Haitians react. You can see their hands in the back of their heads. That means throwing in the towel completely, saying, 'I can't do anything. I can't take this.' These are the pictures that hurt the most," said Jean-Baptiste.

He has watched the images stream in. There are areas that look like they've been hit by tornadoes - complete rubble, and people are walking through the debris searching for bodies. In one picture, a man stands with two dead bodies in the back of a pickup truck.

Jean-Baptiste feels overwhelmed. His hands are tied.

"You feel powerless, really sick to your stomach that these things are happening and you can't do anything about it," he said.

They're not just sending him pictures. They're calling for help.

"All night I'm getting texts. 'Please, if you can let someone know on such and such corner that there is someone there that needs rescue' and it's not coming," he said.

The bodies have become part of the landscape. Jean-Baptiste is worried one of them could be his brother.

"There is a brother whose whereabouts are unknown," he said.

After eight hours of calling, he says he was able to get a hold of his other brother and his sister early Wednesday morning.

"She said they were sleeping in the streets because they were afraid of going back to the home with all the many aftershocks," he said.

The reception was poor. "You could only hear every other word. I kept screaming their names and wanting to know more."

He says just hearing their voices was a relief. It was what he heard in the background that brought the despair to life.

"The screaming and the chaos going on. That was pretty tough. It's been quite a tough night," he said.

Haiti earthquake - See a slide show of some of the pictures sent to Jean-Baptiste.

See more pictures here. Warning: some of them are very graphic.

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