A U.S. Navy helicopter carrying first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, lands at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
First Lady Michelle Obama, second from right, walks with Haiti’s President Rene Preval, center, Haiti’s First Lady Elisabeth Debrosse, right, and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, second from left, at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, front second from right, Haiti’s President Rene Preval, front second from left, and his wife, Elisabeth Debrosse, front right, speak at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First Lady Michelle Obama, right, stands with Haiti’s President Rene Preval, center, and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, left, at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, fourth from right, and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, second from right, stand with Haiti’s President Rene Preval, waving, and Haiti’s first lady Elisabeth Debrosse, left, at the damaged presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
First lady Michelle Obama, center, Haiti’s first lady Elisabeth Debrosse, right, and Vice President Joseph Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, paint with children in a school in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First Lady Michelle Obama visits a center for displaced children in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, left, and Haiti’s first lady Elisabeth Debrosse greet children at a center for displaced children in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the devastated Haitian capital, joining a long list of political figures and celebrities who have toured the country and affirmed international support for reconstruction.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, center, Haiti’s first lady Elisabeth Debrosse, right, and Vice President Joseph Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, greet children in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, top, gestures as she meets children in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the devastated Haitian capital, joining a long list of political figures and celebrities who have toured the country and affirmed international support for reconstruction.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
First lady Michelle Obama, center, Haiti’s first lady Elisabeth Debrosse Preval, left, and Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden look on during a visit at a center for displaced children in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Michelle Obama is on a one-day visit to Haiti.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, second left, shakes hands with UN and NGO workers during a visit to the United Nations base in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Obama is on a one-day visit to Haiti.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama walks to speak with members of the media, shortly before departing after a one-day visit to Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the devastated Haitian capital Tuesday, joining a long list of political figures and celebrities who have toured the country and affirmed international support for reconstruction.
The first lady and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, took a helicopter tour of Port-au-Prince, where hundreds of thousands of homeless quake victims live in squalid temporary settlements, before landing at the destroyed national palace to meet President Rene Preval.
“It’s powerful. The devastation is definitely powerful,” Obama told reporters.
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The Jan. 12 earthquake leveled much of Port-au-Prince and other cities, and killed an estimated 230,000 in and around the capital. The U.S. has provided nearly $1 billion in humanitarian aid and pledged an additional $1 billion to help the impoverished country recover.
Obama and Biden’s visit is intended to underscore U.S. commitment to the Haitian reconstruction effort and to thank American officials who have worked in the country for the past three months, the administration said in a statement.
A number of past and present world leaders have visited Haiti since the earthquake, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
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