Haiti unrest strands U.S. volunteer groups

Fla. church group among those stuck due to protests.

Volunteer groups from several states are stranded in Haiti after violent protests over fuel prices canceled flights and made roads unsafe.

Church groups from South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Alabama are among those that haven’t been able to leave, according to newspaper and television reports.

Earlier this weekend, flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to the island had been canceled until further notice, according to the airport. However, at least one airline had resumed flights to Port-Au-Prince — American had both a departing flight and arriving flight operate out of Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

People with travel plans to Haiti this week should check with their airline for updates, the airport said.

Miami International Airport’s website also showed some flights arriving and departing to Port-Au-Prince.

Palm Beach International Airport currently doesn’t service flights to or from Haiti, a spokeswoman said.

But even getting to an airport could be risky, U.S. officials warned. The U.S. State Department issued an alert Sunday urging its citizens on the island to shelter in place and not to go to an airport unless travelers had confirmed their departing flight was taking off.

Chapin United Methodist Church in South Carolina posted online Sunday that its mission team is safe but stranded. Marcy Kenny, assimilation minister for the church, told The State newspaper that the group is hoping the unrest will abate enough for them to make it to the airport.

“They’re just waiting for things to die down a little bit,” Kenny said.

A North Carolina doctor and his son were part of a medical mission group that had flights canceled. Shelley Collins told WRAL-TV that her husband, James, and their son made it to an airport but were having trouble getting a flight out.

“They said there were rocks being thrown at windows, there were people with guns, there were people attacking cars,” said Collins, who had spoken to her husband and son by video chat.

About 30 volunteers from a Bradenton, Florida, church were unable to make it to the airport Saturday because of protesters blocking the streets, according to the Bradenton Herald.

The group from Woodland Community Church includes about 18 teens, plus ministers and a handful of parents, said Jill Kramer, whose 15-year-old daughter is on the trip. They tried to leave for the airport early Saturday morning but turned back after they encountered protesters.

Kramer, who spoke to her daughter by phone, said the group has food, water and safe shelter at the nonprofit group where they had been working.

“The mission team, the directors, they all decided it just wasn’t worth it to go farther,” Kramer told the newspaper.