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FEMA, OTHERS RESPOND TO KATRINA |
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by Associated Press Tuesday, August 30, 2005 WASHINGTON — Baby formula from the Agriculture Department, communications equipment and medical teams from the Defense Department and generators, water and ice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are among the assistance ready for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As the Category 4 the storm surged ashore just east of New Orleans on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, said agency Director Michael Brown. Brown, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said the evacuation of the city and the general emergency response were working as planned in an exercise a year ago. "I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth," he said. And with the storm moving north, Brown said he expects to see flooding in Tennessee and the Ohio Valley. While federal, state and local agencies were poised to help, recovery could be a slow process. The American Red Cross said it had thousands of volunteers mobilized for the hurricane, the "largest single mobilization that we've done for any single natural disaster," said spokesman Bradley Hague. The organization set up operational headquarters in Baton Rouge. |