Canada's Jean aghast at Haiti devastation

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 8 (UPI) -- Canada's governor general, Haitian-born Michaelle Jean, toured earthquake-ravaged Haiti Monday and said "the magnitude of destructiion is unbelievable."

Jean viewed Port-au-Prince by helicopter and went to the badly damaged presidential palace to meet Haitian President Rene Preval, the Canwest News Service reported.

"It's as if the city has been bombarded," Jean told reporters. "The magnitude of destruction is unbelievable."

During her two-day visit, Jean was scheduled to visit Leogane in northern Haiti and Jacmel in the south, two towns where the Canadian military responded with warships and aircraft after the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 quake.

Jacmel is also where Jean's mother's family lived, the report said. Jean was last there in May 2006 for the swearing-in of Preval, the Globe and Mail said.

Jean is widely revered as a successful Haitian who maintained her links to the country and spoke to the impoverished citizens in 2006 in the Creole language, the Globe said.