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Originally posted by whaaa
a $10 check to the Red Cross doesn't really cut it with a crisis of this magnitude.
Canadian officials have started getting ready to send whatever type of aid the United States requires to help with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said Wednesday.
"We want to reassure the president and the people of the United States that we are their best friends and their neighbour, and we will be there to help them in a situation that truly is without parallel in our country or theirs," said McLellan.
"Yesterday, the Department of Human Health Services in the U.S. contacted our public health agency and asked for an inventory of emergency supplies that, if they need them, we could send at a moment's notice."
Canadian leaders, relief agencies stand by to help U.S. after Katrina
American officials are still assessing their needs, but in coming days Canada will be prepared to send everything from water purification systems to the Canadian military's Disaster Assistance Response Team.
"If you look at the impact of hurricane Katrina, we'll be sending well over 100 Canadian Red Cross workers in the coming weeks," Charest said from Ottawa.
Most of the volunteers will help spell off exhausted American relief workers in the coming months, she said. The Canadians will put in three weeks of gruelling, emotionally draining work that could see them huddling in shelters in sleeping bags along with those left homeless.
"They'll be interviewing families to see what kind of resources they need. Maybe they've lost their house, they need clean-up kits, they need financial support, they can't work."
A spokeswoman for Mennonite Disaster Service in Winnipeg said its sister agency in the U.S. is sending three or four investigators to Mississippi where they hope to set up a base camp for volunteers to help rebuild homes.
More than 500 Canadian Mennonites may eventually be sent to the U.S., said Lois Nickel of the church-based relief organization.
Heavy USAR is the location of trapped persons in collapsed structures and other entrapments using canine teams and electronic search equipment; the work to breach, shore, lift and remove structural components; the use of heavy construction equipment to remove debris and the medical treatment and transfer of victims. USAR is a general term for the technical continuum of search and rescue capabilities.
Originally posted by djohnsto77
I'm wondering if France is offering anything...New Orleans is a former French city and has a lot of French cajuns in it...will they show any concern?
European nations are offering to provide oil to the United States from their strategic reserves to offset shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an EU official said Friday.
Separately, the EU executive Commission in Brussels said it has offered disaster help to U.S. authorities trying to cope with the damage caused by the storm, which lashed New Orleans and coastal towns in Mississippi, causing massive flooding.
Speaking on Britain's Sky News network, EU security affairs chief Javier Solana said the U.S. administration has approached several EU member states individually for help. "Whatever they ask for, it will be given from the reserves of oil that the different (EU) countries are providing," he said.
Solana did not say if the offers by individual European governments involved supplies of crude or refined oil products, such as gasoline.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the United States has asked member states of the International Energy Agency to provide oil and that Germany would "of course" support Washington.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, chairing an EU foreign ministers meeting, said the EU as a whole would play no role in supplying emergency deliveries of oil, but added, "There might be other assistance that can be offered."
Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and shut down around 90 percent of crude production capacity in a region that is responsible for around 30 percent of U.S. crude output.
The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based oil market watchdog that includes 17 of the 25 EU states, said it is consulting with members on tapping their strategic reserves.
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Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she and her fellow citizens felt solidarity with those affected.
"Having experienced the fury of nature ourselves during the December 26 tsunami, the people of Sri Lanka and I fully empathize with you at this hour of national grief," she said in a message to the U.S.
And while the small island nation is still recovering from the tsunami disaster, it also pledged $25,000 to the American Red Cross, the AP reported.
Originally posted by Zion Mainframe
We (The Netherlands) have send a navy frigate for medical and humanitarian aid. It set sail this morning, and should arrive in a few days, it was stationed at Curaçao in the carribbean.
The Dutch government hasn't got an official request, but they send the ship anyway.
They also offered F-16s, equipped with sophisticated photographic pods, to map the area; specialized disaster identification teams to ID bodies; pumps for drinking water, and dikes and water management experts.
They're all waiting for the green light by the White House...
Originally posted by djohnsto77
I applaud the Dutch government
I think we'll need some help from you guys in rebuilding the city too, you are the experts in living below sea level
Originally posted by iksmodnad
The day after the tsunami the united states was accused of being stengy by other country's despite all the aid the united states gave to the victims. Now we have been hit with a hurricane that completely wiped out one of our city's and I have yet to hear anyone lend out any support or help for us.
The day of the tsunami there were prayer services all around th world and there was moral support by other countries and yet there hasn't seemed to be much of a reaction to what happened to New Orleans, which is almost just as devastating.
I do not mean for this to be politically baited but if were stengy how come no one is helping us, our nation can provide basic services but cannot rebuild homes, schools and hospitals. Not to mention some assistance rescuing people would be nice because with the man power we have it can take days or weeks to help ever one get to dryer ground.
I cannot not say no ones been lending any help because I'm sure some were along the line there has been some help but were is it who is it and is there any at all?