People Across Green Country Fret For Loved Ones In Haiti

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The world is captivated by the destruction the earthquake has caused in Haiti.

The images are haunting for a Claremore woman who grew up in Haiti and was supposed to be on a plane there before the earthquake intervened.

Louna Coleman says the reason she was flying to Haiti was already a somber one. She was going to her brother in law's funeral but now, she says she cannot even fathom the sadness she will feel when she does get there.

"That helplessness is worse than probably being there because you sit. You sit and you hope somebody's doing something," Coleman said.

Coleman was supposed to fly into Haiti on Wednesday for a funeral. That changed.

"Somebody called me and said there's been an earthquake in Haiti. I said you are mistaken. We don't have earthquakes in Haiti. We have hurricanes," Coleman said.

Stunned, Coleman says it was torture, waiting to hear from her two brothers, two sisters and seven nieces and nephews all in Port-au-Prince.

"Waited again. Spent another night waiting and hoping and praying that you'd hear that good news and still nothing," Coleman said.

While Coleman waited in Claremore, a Claremore teen was on a mission trip in Haiti.

"I had never been in an earthquake before and when it hit, I knew it. as soon as it hit I knew exactly what it was," said Liberty Henegar, Claremore Resident. "There are people laying in streets in places, there was a little boy crushed under a wall. They've opened the cemeteries and are just putting people in to, trying to keep disease down."

Liberty Henegar says the earthquake has changed her forever but she is thankful to be alive.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb in the wake of the devastation but back in Oklahoma, Louna Coleman received the phone call she's so desperately wanted.

"They...they were okay."

Now, the trip home is more important than ever.

"These are streets that I walked on, I grew up. Schools I went to, to see the destruction around the schools," Coleman said.

Coleman and husband say they are waiting for the green light to go to Haiti. While they wait, they are gathering supplies at Destiny Life Church.

If you would like to help, please contact the church at 918-341-1765.

We will hear more tomorrow from Liberty about her trip to Haiti and her firsthand experience of the earthquake.