A Winnipegger whose family is missing in Haiti is heading to the quake-ravaged country to search for them.

Armed with medical supplies and food, Arisnel Mesidor has been trying for two days to reach his wife in Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince.

On Tuesday afternoon, Haiti was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude quake and Port-au-Prince was left in ruins.

Shattered communication systems in the Caribbean country made it impossible to immediately determine the number of casualties, but an International Red Cross official estimated that three million people in the impoverished country of nine million may have been affected and could need emergency aid.

'If somebody is dead, at least I will be there to see and to pick up the body.'—Arisnel Mesidor

Mesidor works in Winnipeg at Acceuil Francophone du Manitoba, an organization that helps French-speaking immigrants settle into the province.

Now he will try to help those in need who live 4,000 kilometres away.

Mesidor has many relatives in Haiti, including brothers and a wheelchair-bound grandmother whom he has been unable to reach.

He's worried about what he'll find when he arrives next Tuesday but says he will do whatever he can to help.

"If somebody is dead, at least I will be there to see and to pick up the body," he said.

Mesidor is taking medications, bandages, masks and small flashlights and "everything I think that would be useful during this time," he said. "And food supplement for my family and close neighbours."