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Red Cross Workers Head to Texas to Help in Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort

Posted on: Saturday, 3 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

TRENTON, Ont. (CP) - Twenty-five Canadian Red Cross workers left Saturday for Houston to help victims of hurricane Katrina in the first of a series of missions being organized for the months ahead. The group converged in Toronto and took a bus to CFB Trenton, Ont., where the volunteers boarded a military plane and headed south.

"What's really nice is everybody got to go together. They had a team spirit; everybody was wearing their Red Cross vests and (they were) very excited," said Suzanne Charest, a Red Cross spokeswoman who was in Trenton to see the workers off.

"That's really good they can support each other at least on the trip, because once they get to Houston, they'll be dispatched to various places."

In all, 37 Canadians from across the country will take part in this particular three-week relief mission.

The other 12 are to leave on commercial flights Monday or Tuesday and connect with American Red Cross officials in Houston.

Over the next few months, the Canadian Red Cross expects to send 100 to 200 people to help their American counterparts.

Kathleen Killen, also with the Red Cross, said there will be more people heading to the U.S. on a rotating basis.

"They'll be doing a wide variety of things . . . logistics, things like shelter management, giving out food, water - basically their tasks will be assigned to them by the American Red Cross and they're going to help where it's needed," she said.

The relief agency estimates individual Canadians have donated over $1 million to date to help survivors of the hurricane, but the real amount is likely much larger.

In Ottawa, spokesman Jim Ferguson said the Salvation Army has raised at least $100,000 since Thursday.

On the corporate side, Canadian auto parts giant Magna International offering a small fleet to buses to take more than 400 people from the U.S. Gulf Coast to its facilities in Florida.

Hurricane survivors will be able to stay there until November.

Three Canadian warships and a Canadian Coast Guard vessel were being loaded with supplies, and 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel are to leave from Halifax on Tuesday.

Dan McTeague, the parliamentary secretary responsible for Canadians abroad, said Saturday that his top priority is to help Canadians get out of New Orleans but efforts have been hampered because the U.S. State Department is not allowing consular staff into the city.

"Our consular officials have not been given permission to go into New Orleans so we have to use every opportunity we can to work with officials there to identify Canadians there and get them out."

He said no consular official of any country has been given permission to enter the city although reporters are being allowed in.

The Liberal MP said it is very hard to get information: "Communications are not what they would be even in the most remote of regions. And the situation is very tense.

"Everybody's working feverishly."

Navy spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Ken MacKillup said Canadian Forces personnel were eager to help.

"It's certainly not the first time we've responded to these types of situations," he said Saturday.

"I think the crews are very well trained and will be in all respects ready for sea on Tuesday."

MacKillup said the duration of the trip won't be decided until the crews arrive in waters off New Orleans and survey what needs to be done.

The crews will assist with health care, humanitarian aid and reconstruction.

Source: Canadian Press

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