Hurricane Katrina Comments and Questions 2248

Canada ready to help

By ALLISON DUNFIELD

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 Updated at 6:56 PM EDT

Aid organizations across the United States and in Canada are already receiving donations from people who want to help those devastated by this week's hurricane in the southern United States.

"We want to rebutture 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," Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said Wednesday.

"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."

That inventory was completed Wednesday.

American officials are still buttessing their needs, but in coming days Canada will be prepared to send everything from water purification systems to the Canadian military's Disaster buttistance Response Team.

Asked by reporters about the effect of Katrina on the Canadian economy - higher oil prices expected as a result of supply disruptions - Ms. McLellan acknowledged there could be an impact but stressed she wants to focus on the human tragedy of the disaster at this moment.

Prime Minister Paul Martin was set to speak by phone Thursday with U.S. President George W. Bush about what Canada can do to help the reconstruction effort.

Elsewhere in Canada, Ontario is looking into whether its medical and hydro workers can help, and Premier Dalton McGuinty spoke to the U.S. ambbuttador to Canada asking what the province can do.

"We stand at the ready to buttist," said Mr. McGuinty, who added Ontario could help with its Emergency Medical buttistance Team.

Relief efforts by Canadians in disaster zones are largely organized in Ottawa, but Mr. McGuinty said he wants to know from Ambbuttador David Wilkins what specifically Ontario can do.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said officials with Manitoba Hydro have also offered to send staff to the affected areas to help restore power.

The effort is the American Red Cross's "largest-ever mobilization of resources for a single disaster," it said.

Hurricane Katrina came ashore Monday between New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., inundating large areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. As of Wednesday, at least 110 people were confirmed dead, and thousands of others were stranded in emergency shelters.

As of Wednesday, the American Red Cross had raised $21-million (U.S.), which is comparable to the response for last year's victims of the Asian tsunami.

"The outpouring of support has been amazing," said Kara Bunte, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which has set up hundreds of shelters for hurricane victims.

The American Red Cross said nearly $15-million had come from their website. The organization has set up a phone line to accept donations, along with Web contributions. However, on Wednesday it had been inundated with users and was difficult to access.

The number of Hurricane Katrina victims in Red Cross shelters is up to 45,000 and growing, the rescue organization reported Wednesday.

Some 250 shelters were open in the storm damaged area and the Red Cross had set up 15 emergency kitchens capable of feeding 350,000 people, another spokeswoman, Deborah Daley said.

The Canadian Red Cross is also accepting donations for hurricane relief. "The organization has received hundreds of call from Canadians wanting to help the people impacted by this disaster and will accept funds designated for Hurricane Katrina," said Don Shropshire, the national director for disaster services at the Canadian Red Cross.

Highly trained Canadian disaster response volunteers are currently being readied to be sent to the devastated areas, the Red Cross said.

However, the Canadian Red Cross warned people not to send donations of food or clothing for victims of Katrina, saying the cost of shipping such items to the devastated areas is prohibitive.

On its website, the U.S. Salvation Army was asking for a $100 donation, saying that will help to feed a family of four for two days, along with providing drinking water and a household cleaning kit. It was also asking for volunteers, donations of equipment and for people to pray for victims of the storm.

Jim Ferguson, territorial emergency disasters services director for the Canadian Salvation Army, told globeandmail.com that he is waiting for the call for trained officers to be sent down to the southern United States to help out.

However, Mr. Ferguson noted that the reconstruction effort will take months or even years, so he expects that Canadian Salvation Army workers won't be called in until U.S. workers need to be relieved.

"Due to the enormity and length of time for recovery efforts they'll need replacements," he said. Canada has 4-5,000 trained officers who could be sent, he said.

Although the Canadian Salvation Army has received calls about donations, it is not actively seeking funds, Mr. Ferguson said, because it does not have a fund earmarked for hurricane victims. However, it is still accepting donations.

As well, he said, there may be more than enough donations pouring in from American donors.

"Money tends not to be a problem for our organization regarding disaster relief. People are very generous."

Like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army is asking people not to donate gifts-in-kind because there are no warehouses available for storage in the devastated areas.

Other groups in the United States with phone lines set up for those wanting to help included Catholic Charities USA and the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

In Crawford, Tex., White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that the U.S. administration has been putting together an aid package to help people deal with the aftermath of Katrina.

"I know that there is discussion that is ongoing on that," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. "And, certainly, I would expect a supplemental is something that is going to be needed in a situation like this."

Mr. McClellan said it was likely that the cost would be so high it would require a supplemental budget request.

As well, the U. S. administration said it is still working out a dollar figure on the disaster and thus won't be able to begin doling out aid on a relief fund until then.

In Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said Ottawa has contacted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and advised him that Ottawa stands ready to provide buttistance if needed. She scheduled a news conference for Wednesday. That could mean sending emergency medical supplies and equipment to hospitals in the midst of the disaster.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Paul Martin offered Canada's condolences and said he had put Ms. McLellan in charge of Canada's disaster buttistance response.

" I know that she and a number of her Cabinet colleagues have been in touch with their American counterparts and have begun to determine what buttistance Canada can offer. We have made it clear that we are prepared to offer any and all possible buttistance, and we will continue to work closely with our neighbours as they deal with this terrible event."

The Prime Minister had been criticized by the Conservatives for not speaking up on Canada's behalf sooner.

"Americans need to know that we support them and will buttist them in any way. It's imperative that our Prime Minister relays this message directly to U.S. President George W. Bush," said foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day.

On Wednesday, several provinces, including Ontario and Manitoba, also offered their buttistance.

Canadians are being warned not to travel to the affected areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. No Canadians have been reported to have died in the hurricane. Those who may have missing friends or relatives are being asked to call Foreign Affairs at 1-800-267-6788, or in Ottawa at (613) 944-6788.