After days of frustrating delays and setbacks getting aid to the people of Haiti, several jumbo shipments of medicine, food, water, clothing and supplies left South Florida early Sunday morning for Port-au-Prince.

How jumbo? Try three whole planes' worth.

A FedEx-owned Boeing 727 freighter stuffed with 40,000 pounds of non-perishable food and water from Food for the Poor and Friends of the Orphans departed Miami International at 9:30 a.m., ahead of a second FedEx flight from L.A. carrying 13 pallets of medication and medical supplies from Direct Relief International.

FedEx donated the logistical and flight costs, and expects to move several hundred tons of supplies – including water purification systems, food, medical aid, and more -- for the earthquake relief effort. 

From Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, a Spirit Airlines jet carrying purified water from Southern Wine & Spirits, Food for the Poor, Miami Fire Rescue, Miramar Fire Rescue, and Bad Boys 4X4 Club left around 11 a.m, according to CBS4.

While the municipal supply system was unreliable before the earthquake hit, the need for clean drinking water in Haiti has become a severe emergency in its aftermath -- in part because survivors remain outdoors in the sun for fear of aftershocks or because of unstable buildings. Pipes and distribution centers were damaged in the quake, and drivers hesitate to distribute what remains for fear of attack.

"People are desperate and will fight to death for a cup of water," said Tom Osbek, a missionary from Indiana serving in Haiti. While Oxfam managed to move some tanks leftover from a 2008 storm into the capital, and U.S. military helicopters are ferrying in water from the USS Carl Vinson, the Spirit and FedEx flights bring some much-welcome reinforcements.

A third plane chartered by Davie-based Homeless Voice of the South is set to depart MIA this afternoon, bringing ready-to-eat military meals and 30,000 doses of antibiotics.

Though the Florida flights are not the first to bring supplies to a devastated Haiti, they are among the first large, private stores able to arrive.

Haiti's major seaport was severely damaged, rendering it difficult if not impossible to unload supplies from ships. The airport, which is also being used as a makeshift hospital, experienced overcrowding and confusion as efforts to get in and get out began without authority. Complicating matters was the fact that only a single runway survived the quake intact.

The U.S. Air Force has since taken control of the airport, and the military and other aid organizations are scrambling to distribute aid safely and effectively. Its proximity to Hispaniola has positioned South Florida as an ideal launching point for supplies and volunteers.

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