Earthquake in Haiti

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who were affected by the earthquake in Haiti. My daily segment on the Press Pool today will focus on the web activity centered around this catastrophe. President Obama spoke earlier this morning about the earthquake, pledging that the US will send humanitarian assistnace and relief to the country. Lawmakers today are releasing statements and tweeting their reax to the situation:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: My hope is that the WH will grant temporary protected status to Haitians who fled to the US due to past violence and disasters in Haiti.

The White House: Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief efforts in #Haiti. Learn more: http://bit.ly/6KiRtE @dipnote

Sen. John Kerry: Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross's #Haiti relief efforts. Following up with team in DC on gov't response to help Haitians.

Sen. Chris Dodd: If you are an American seeking information about family members in Haiti, you can call the State Department at: 1-888-407-4747

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people" - Dodd Statement on Haitian Earthquake: http://dodd.senate.gov/

Rep. John Shimkus: Haitian-Americans concerned abt fmly mbrs can call State Dept @ 888-407-4747. You can also help with disaster relief @ www.americares.org

HaitiFeed.com is posting video, pictures, and news stories coming out of the country, providing a sense of the devestateion. Twitter hashtags like #Haiti, #Yele, and #helphaiti are trending and making it easy to follow anyone with new information on the site.

Much like the post-election protests in Iran, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other internet resources have allowed the rest of the world to stay in contact with this region. If you want to donate to the relief effort, text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the RedCross or text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 through Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. There's also a number of relief organizations to donate to here.