What countries are helping the US with hurricane Katrina?

by Texas Apostate 41 Replies latest social current

SixofNine

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050829/pl_afp/usweatherve... ;_ylt=Andzd6wF1QOk.qwr8aIbUvgXr7sF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send food and fuel to the United States after the powerful Hurricane Katrina pummeled the US south, ravaging US crude production.

The leftist leader, a frequent critic of the United States and a target himself of US disapproval, said Venezuela could send aid workers with drinking water, food and fuel to US communities hit by the hurricane....

Chavez said fuel could be sent to the United States via a Citgo refinery that has not been affected by the hurricane. Citgo is owned by Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)....
Uzzah

The Province of Ontario is meeting tomorrow to discuss the exact nature of the aid to be offered both financial and military. One troop started to deploy on its own but realized that to go without invitation equates to an invasion force so they wisely returned to base.
Canadian Red Cross is sending down 100 of their most experienced disaster managers/volunteers as well as have already been collecting funds earmarked for Katrina relief efforts.
Other National Societies of the Red Cross/Red Crescent have also made offers of assistance. Canada is going in first due to the close relationship shared between the two countries and the two national societies of the Red Cross.
We will likely be sending volunteers down to the southern States for the next 6 months at least.
nowisee

lyin -- so good to hear from you. glad you are ok.
thanks for all those willing to help.
read an article in my local paper this a.m. written by one of the heads of FEMA, that said most of FEMA's resources had been directed to anti-terrorism after 9/11, and that efforts toward natural disasters had been curtailed or discontinued. saw a news program tonite in which a FEMA official said that they were directed to study what would be the impact of the worst hypothtical natural disaster that could hit the u.s. ironically they studied the hypothetical impact of a category 5 hurricane on the city of new orleans at least two years ago. incredible. they were not prepared for this.
to those critical of the u.s. and its policy, please know that 49% of us also were/are critical of it. unfortunately we lost the election.
and my heart is broken for those affected by this tragedy.
upside/down

Why is it that when someone brings up a natural disaster involving civilians, etc, totally unrelated to other stuff, Iraq, etc., people still have to use it as an opportunity to USA bash?

That's JWD's second mission...after Dub bashing (which I relish).
This is one big ass disaster... will we learn from it? DON'T BUILD ON SWAMPS OR BELOW SEA LEVEL....DUH!
And if you have to... build accordingly...use stilts or something.
I really hope that the outpouring of help from here and abroad really makes quick work of this...I know that's wishful thinking...but hey.
SO THE DUBS CAN'T POINT ANY FINGERS...AND LOOK SILLY WHEN THEY HAVE TO RELY ON THE OLD WORLD FOR HELP!!!
Anyway... According to many here I'm sure "W" will just f*ck it all up...and if we'd stop driving Hummers this never would have happened...
Good Luck to all involved in helping the poor victims...America is a great nation(despite it's faults), and this disaster (unfortunately) will prove it.
u/d(of the hopes we learn class)
kilroy2

Do I like that some idiots drive hummers? NO, but the statement that we in the us or humanity caused this or any other natural disaster is stupid.
I would like to see tax on all autos that are not necessary to a business that get under 12 mpg taxed at least 1k a year for a fed, lic plate surcharge.
I break with Limbaugh in that taxing the rich is the way to make the short fall and help the social eco. poor.
Limbaugh [which I agree with on the military and other matters] once said that we in the us should take all the us citz. [325 million?] and divide the national debt by that number and then charge every one that amount, pay their fair share. Well I think it came out to some where in the amount of 3250 per us citz. That does not mean to much to Limbaugh with a 100 mill. $ contract. but to the single mom down the street that is raising a kid on 12k a year, it is the diff. between living with enough of the necessary items one needs to live and having to cut back on the necessities.
We need a strong military, and we need to live by the constitution and bill of rights, including the ones we do not agree with, the one I see bashed all the time is the second amendment, the liberal press loves to trumpet the first, but then wants to remove the second. You can not pick and choose what you like and do not like in the constitution, other wise you will will take the chance that one day some one will change the constitution to exclude women voting, civil rights, ect.
The us has always been [in the latter part of this last century] a target for those that are less fortunate [through their own mismanagement of their countries affairs]
Lets take France, every time France does not get what they want the sit a cry like a baby, Armstrong wins and they cry that he takes drugs, London wins the Olympics and they cry that it was fixed. Remember when Omar was bombing planes and sending out terrorists, and Regan wanted to send him a message? old France said you can not fly those f4s over our air space, good thing Regan said well, we will go around you fucked up air space and refuel and now Omar is at least on a short chain, These people are raised in a radical religion, one that in the Koran says that if those who do not convert to Islam shall be put to the sword, only now they translate sword to box cutters and c4.
And then some say we have no right to go to war. bull shit, they are nothing more than pathetic pacifists, Remember you history, when chamberlain gave Hitler the chek republic, He came back to England holding the treaty, and said we have peace. Hitler promised he would stop his march across Europe.
When Hitler was asked about this, he said, He [chamberlin] has a pc. of paper, I have the chek republic,
This is what happens when you sit back and try to talk your way out of aggression, aggressors only understand force, violence, do you think, that we could have just sat down with the Taliban and said, we want to understand you situation, we want diversity, and multicultural ideas, no they would have cut your fucking head off and shit down your neck.
After the war it took many years to change the thinking of the average German and jap, but now we fight them on the economic battle field instead of the jungles and hedge row's.
So it is because of this standing up for ourselves that countries like France hates us, instead of trying to bring themselves up to our level they try to tear us down to theirs.
Sunnygal41

Don't get me wrong, I dislike Pres. Bush and do not agree with his politics, but, I was favorably surprised and impressed with his comments in this article........at least help is on the way. U.S. Gov't Launches Massive Relief Effort
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday the federal government has launched the most massive relief effort in history to help people devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and that while thousands more victims still need to be rescued, help is on its way. "I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday," Bush said in a live interview in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "I understand the anxiety of people on the ground. ... So there is frustration. But I want people to know there's a lot of help coming."
Bush urged a crackdown on looting and crime that has spread throughout New Orleans.
"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this," he said.
Bush said he has not yet finalized plans to visit the devastated Gulf Coast, but he is expected to go within days. He spoke as tens of thousands of people were evacuated on buses from the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston.
He expressed sympathy for those still stranded and acknowledged that thousands still need to be rescued.
"I just can't imagine waving a sign that says `Come and get me now,' " he said.
Bush brushed off criticism that he did not return to Washington from his monthlong stay at his Texas ranch on Tuesday, in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, instead of Wednesday.
"I hope people don't ... play politics during this period of time," he said. "This is a natural disaster — the likes of which our country may have never seen before — and it's a national emergency. And what we need to do as a nation is come together to solve the problem and not play politics. There'll be ample time for politics."
Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff , meanwhile, said one problem is that "we have an ongoing flood situation even as we're in the middle of recovering from the hurricane."
"We're in a position where there are additional people we have to look for," he said in an interview on NBC"s "Today" show. "We're hoping to get the most people out as we can in the next 12 hours and 24 hours, but we're going to continue to search until we're sure we've got everybody safe."
"We've got hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced," Chertoff added. "This is unprecedented in this country's history and it's going to call for the kind of relief effort which we've been able to mount overseas, and we're now going to have to mount at home."
Appearing on CBS's "The Early Show," he said: "We understand that for every single person there, even an hour seems like an eternity. We have to make sure we address those whose needs are the greatest first and then make sure we get everybody else."
Bush has said the recovery will take years. He said the federal government has dispatched assistance to the Gulf Coast region, including 5.4 million precooked meals, 13.4 million liters of water, more than 1,000 search and rescue personnel and the floating hospital ship USNS Comfort. It was just the first trickle of help that Washington planned to provide to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, the president said.
Bush said he is not expecting much assistance from foreign nations because the United States has not asked for it.
"This country is going to rise up and take care of it," the president said. "You know we'd love help but we're going to take care of our own business as well."
In Berlin Thursday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered aid and assistance, saying he had called on several ministries to come up with a detailed list of what kind of aid they could provide. "There is a lot possible for us in this sector," he said.
An additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country began pouring into the Gulf Coast on Wednesday to shore up security, rescue and relief operations. The new units brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the largest military response to a natural disaster.
The Pentagon was sending a broad contingent of ships, aircraft, trucks, medical support and other personnel to support federal agencies already providing aid to gulf region, including 60 helicopters to be used for search and rescue operations, damage assessment flights and the distribution of supplies.
With key Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines out of service, the Energy Department tried to keep fuel production steady by tapping an emergency government stockpile of oil and to temporarily ease pollution standards on gasoline and diesel fuel. But the president raised the possibility that the hurricane will lead to even higher gasoline prices and shortages in some areas.
"This will help take some pressure off of gas price," Bush said Wednesday in the Rose Garden. "But our citizens must understand this storm has disrupted the capacity to make gasoline and distribute gasoline."
Bush asked the pilot of Air Force One to fly over the Gulf Coast region on Wednesday as he returned to Washington from his Texas ranch so he could see the magnitude of devastation firsthand. He saw homes reduced to rubble in Mississippi and flood waters creeping toward downtown New Orleans, submerging homes nearly to their rooftops. it."
Michael Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that he had declared a public health emergency in the area stretching from Louisiana to Florida. "We are gravely concerned about the potential for cholera, typhoid and dehydrating diseases that could come as a result of the stagnant water and the conditions," he said.
Pole

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/baac872c-1b0c-11da-a117-00000e2511c8.html
Europe on standby to send petrol to US
By Andrew Ward in Montgomery, Alabama, Carola Hoyos in London and Christopher Swann in Washington
Published: September 1 2005 18:36 | Last updated: September 1 2005 19:43
European countries were on Thursday preparing to release emergency stockpiles of petrol as the US confirmed that some refineries hit by Hurricane Katrina would remain shut for several months.
Earlier US officials had estimated the closures at only one to two weeks.
Officials from member governments of the International Energy Agency, the energy watchdog of industrialised countries, said they were now waiting only for the US to agree to such a measure.
The International Energy Agency, the organisation that coordinates the release, would say only that it was still assessing whether the size of the shortfall caused by Katrina warranted calling an emergency release.
Germany has assured the IEA that it would release stocks if asked to participate if needed. Germany holds the largest number of barrels of petrol in public storage. These extra barrels could hit the markets within one or two days. France, Spain and Italy also have large emergency gasoline reserves. However, should the gasoline be released, European countries are likely to seek an economic or political quid pro quo from Washington.
Europe has 168m barrels of petrol reserved for emergencies, with 53m of those held by governments or agencies. The US holds only emergency stockpiles of crude oil.
Jittery motorists formed lines of up to a mile long outside gasoline stations in several southern US states on Thursday, in anticipation of fuel shortages over the Labor Day weekend.
In scenes reminiscent of the oil crises of the 1970s, drivers drained pumps at stations in Georgia and Mississippi.
People queued for hours at the few petrol stations that were open along the Mississippi coast, clogging up roads and diverting police resources.
Fuel shortages stretched more than 100 miles north up the main highways running into the hurricane-hit area, as pumps were drained by evacuees fleeing the area and relief vehicles on their way in.
At some filling stations hours inland from the coast, locals appeared to be the main source of demand amid mounting fears of a more widespread shortage. Quotas were being imposed in many places.
Police were present at the busiest stations, marshalling traffic and maintaining order.
With so much of the energy infrastructure in the south damaged, analysts said the petrol shortages could spread. Hurricane Katrina shut down at least eight crude oil refineries, responsible for producing about 1.8m barrels of refined products - about 10 per cent of the nation's total capacity.
Experts warned that shortages could spread up the east coast of American. Adam Sieminski, analyst at Deutsche Bank, said that if all Americans topped up their tanks with an extra five gallons of gasoline it would equate to 27m barrels of extra demand.
There have already been examples of price gouging, with one Georgia station charging $5.19 per gallon - almost double the national average.
Two lines transporting gasoline and other fuels to the rest of the US are also running at a third of capacity.
Frank Vervastro, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the shortages could worsen if consumers panicked. “Normally drivers fill their tanks half way or slightly more,” he said. “If many now start to fill their tanks to the top, the shortages could become more acute.”
Seth Kleinman, an analyst at PFC Energy, a consultancy, said it could take up to a month for supplies to return to normal and that prices could remain elevated beyond this time. “This supply shock sets the stage for extremely high prices for the foreseeable future,” he said. “With prices already high due to strong global demand, the last thing we needed was a supply shock.”
The Consumer Federation of America estimates that the average US family now spends close to $2,000 a year on gasoline - up from around $1,300 in 2002. Households with incomes under $15,000 - about a fifth of US families - spend more than 10 per cent of their income on gasoline. A survey by the CFA suggested that three quarters of Americans were highly concerned about gasoline prices over the next five years.
Abaddon

Great to see that some Americans will use this disatser to fuel "boo-hoo, the world hates the USA" paranoia.
International aid is being given, but if I were you I'd be more coincerned about the way aid is being delivered locally by your elected officials;
http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4203890.stm
I would also ask people why they feel there SHOULD be a relief effort of the same scale seen for the tsunami for a comparati9vely LOCAL disaster.
All the death and destruction is tragic; however, with the casulty count of the tsunami over 170,000 and the scale of the disaster being International, one would have to have a total lack of perspective to expect a relief operation of the same scale.
And as America is THE richest, and those countries hit by the tsunami amongst the poorest... hell, even the chuckle-head you have as a President realises the most powerful country in the world doesn't need the same level International aid as third-world countries hit by a far more serious disaster.
But go ahead, those of you who want to milk this to feed your certainty that the world is unjustly against the USA, go right ahead. Facts and idiots don't often keep company.
I think it is more than a little pathetic, but then, that's me.
And as for who gave what in the tsunami; http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/dis_tsu_int_aid_pac&int=-1
doofdaddy

Well I just got back from volunteering in the tsunami affected areas and would do the same for the US if I was of any benefit.
As I posted somewhere else here, Australia has offered experts in disaster management and $10,000,000 in Red Cross donations. I don't care about politics when I see little kids dying of thirst and disease. It's up to GW Bush now to accept this outside help.
I believe that it's an outrage that the military weren't sent in with field hospitals and rations. It's nearly been a week!!!
under74

You know, the real problem I see with this whole question is that the US doesn't need aid from other countries. I'm just sick to my stomach that in the most powerful country on earth they couldn't drop water or food from a damn chopper to people but we can invade Iraq before anyone can mutter "bullshit."

What countries are helping the US with hurricane Katrina?

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