Haitian Evacuees Arriving In Central Florida

Posted: 6:20 am EST January 18, 2010Updated: 6:13 pm EST January 18, 2010

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- More than 1,000 evacuees have flown into Central Florida since Friday and hundreds more are expected over the next 24 hours.

As of Sunday morning, nearly 1,800 American citizens have been airlifted out of the stricken country. Eyewitness News understands that, once they land at Orlando-Sanford International Airport, they are bussed to Orlando International Airport where they can either rent cars to get home or catch a connecting flight.

The children, who are flying alone, are placed directly under the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) custody. Some already have money and others who need are receiving some monetary assistance.

At one point Monday afternoon, three cargo aircraft carrying American evacuees out of Haiti were on the runway at Orlando-Sanford International Airport. They included the young, the old and the injured.

Nadia Pressage is one of the hundreds of evacuees grateful to be back on U.S. soil Monday afternoon.

“I think to be on that plane was a Godsend, that's what it was,â€