Liesette Lenai sobs Wednesday during a prayer service at the First Haitian Church of Grace in Charlotte, N.C. Nearly all of her family is still in Haiti, and she has not heard from any of them.associated press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Turning pickup trucks into ambulances and doors into stretchers, Haitians struggled frantically today to save those injured in this week's earthquake as desperately needed aid from around the world began arriving.

Planes carrying teams from China, France and Spain landed at Port-au-Prince's airport with searchers and tons of food, medicine and other supplies — with more promised from around the globe.

Search and rescue squads from Virginia and Iceland arrived Wednesday and some groups — from Cuba's government and Doctors Without Borders — used staff already in the country to offer aid immediately after Tuesday's magnitude-7 quake.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that "tens of thousands, we fear, are dead" and said United States and the world must do everything possible to help Haiti surmount its "cycle of hope and despair."

The U.S. was sending troops and ships along with aid to Haiti, and other nations were joining the effort to help the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, where the international Red Cross estimated 3 million people — a third of the population — may need emergency relief.

In the streets of the capital, survivors set up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.

"This is much worse than a hurricane," said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor's assistant working at a triage center set up in a hotel parking lot. "There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die."

The aid group Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two hospitals that withstood the quake and set up tent clinics elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities. Cuba, which already had hundreds of doctors in Haiti, treated injured in field hospitals.

President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort including the military and civilian emergency teams from across the U.S.

"The 82nd Airborne is getting to Haiti today, the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson will be on the horizon soon, the Coast Guard has performed magnificently in helping to evacuate the injured, particularly American citizens," Clinton said.

These three agencies are reaching out to help earthquake victims in Haiti.• The Butler County Chapter of the American Red Cross is accepting financial donations. Donations can be sent to The American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or made by phone at 800-733-2767.• Brother's Brother Foundation of Pittsburgh is working with the Pittsburgh-based Functional Literacy Ministries of Haiti to send supplies. Donations can be made to pay shipping costs.Credit card donations can be made at www.brothersbrother.org or by calling the Brother's Brother Foundation at 412-321-3160. Checks should be made to the Brother's Brother Foundation and sent to Brother's Brother Foundation — Haiti, 1200 Galveston Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15233.• The Salvation Army is accepting financial donations. People may contribute at www.salvationarmyusa.org, call 800-725-2769, or mail a check to The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263.