Florida state officials are working to get Americans out of Haiti and back home to safety. As violence continues in the country, hundreds of Floridians are among those unable to leave.
State officials said they have been in contact with 348 Americans stuck in Haiti, 259 of whom are Floridians. Now, state officials are working around the clock to get those people out of Haiti and back home to safety.
“We are not going to stop working until we can get these people home," said Kevin Guthrie with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management is making that promise as they work to get two flights full of Americans off the ground in Haiti.
“Unfortunately, the situation on the ground has been so volatile we have not been able to complete that mission,” Guthrie said.
Those two flights were supposed to take off on Tuesday and land in Orlando. They were stuck on the ground because of the unrest in the country's capital, Port-Au-Prince.
Violence has been nearing a boiling point since the assassinations of Haiti’s elected president in 2021. Protests against the acting prime minister followed.
The country repeatedly postponed elections, and the prime minister announced his resignation last week, but armed groups have already begun their attacks on airports, sea ports, police stations and banks.
“There are many different gangs, and they control different sectors, different areas almost like precincts depending upon which gang you're talking about will dictate how violent they are and what their goals are," said Bryan Stern, the CEO of Project Dynamo, a nonprofit based in Tampa.
Project Dynamo has performed rescues worldwide, including in Ukraine, Gaza and Afghanistan. They are working to continue the mission in Haiti and recently rescued a Florida missionary who was stuck there.
“It was a little scary. I had hope, and I tried to keep everyone else hopeful," Miriam Cinotti said.
Cinotti arrived in Haiti in February for a mission trip. As the violence erupted, her flights out were canceled, and she found herself stuck in Port-Au-Prince.
Project Dynamo was able to get her out of Haiti and to safety. The nonprofit said they are using planes, boats and buses to rescue Americans.
Stern said more than 100 Americans trapped in Haiti have reached out for help.
He said he would continue his mission as long as he had funding. State officials will try again on Wednesday to get those two flights out of Haiti.
