Emily Sanson-Rejouis, 37, put a distraught call to family here via satellite phone last night, saying her French-Haitian husband and their three young New Zealand-born children were missing in Port-au-Prince and she was struggling to find help among the chaos.
"Emily was at work when the earthquake struck...she found her way to the hotel where Emmanuel was with the three little girls," Ms Sanson-Rejouis' Auckland-based step-sister, Caroline Larnach, told NZPA last night.
"When she got there the hotel was collapsed and she had no way of knowing what had happened to her family."
The hotel -- the Karibe -- was one of many buildings destroyed yesterday by the 7.0 magnitude quake which left so much destruction that authorities have no idea how many lives have been claimed, other than to say it may be more than 100,000.
Ms Sanson-Rejouis, who grew up in Nelson, met her husband while working in eastern Europe for the United Nations, later shifting with the agency to Haiti where some of Mr Sanson-Rejouis' family are based.
The couple's children, Kofie-Jade, 5, Zenzie, 3, and Alyahna, 2, are all New Zealand born.
Ms Lanarch said her family had tried all afternoon to contact Ms Sanson-Rejouis after hearing about the quake, and finally heard from her about 7.30pm after she managed to borrow the satellite phone.
Family and friends have since had no option but to wait in anguish as all standard communications lines, including cellphones, are down.
Ms Larnach said her sister was struggling to find assistance among the chaos and was desperate for help.
Family were staying in touch with Foreign Affairs, who are communicating with their Australian, British and French counterparts to check what representation is available in the quake-hit region.
Ms Larnach said she had also been in touch with international aid agencies.
"We are just trying to do everything we can to find out if there are any groups that can help us," she said.
"If there are any organisations or people in New Zealand that can help us find our sister, and help her and her family..."
Another sister, Rachel Sanson, was preparing to leave for Miami today, but it was not known whether she would be able to go any further.
Meanwhile, international agencies have been putting out requests for emergency aid, while others have been busy trying to reach their staff in Port-au-Prince to confirm they were safe.
Both Unicef and Save the Children said their own offices had been among those buildings damaged, along with the United Nations building which Ms Sanson-Rejouis was working in.
Unicef New Zealand said any working phones were being used to coordinate the emergency response.
"We have very little information at the moment, but early reports are that the population has sustained significant damage, including damage to our own office. We expect to have more information tomorrow," executive director Dennis McKinlay said last night.
"In the meantime, Unicef is working both locally and internationally to respond to the humanitarian needs that may arise from the earthquake, such as lack of clean water and sanitation, and the spread of diseases."
