Friends of America offer help

[Ani Ibi]

Governments of other countries have offered sympathies and material support:

Israel: One official said that Israel's offer of assistance was of a general nature, and that the Americans have not asked for any help. The official said that although Israel does not have any particular expertise in battling floods, it does have a great deal of expertise dealing with collapsed buildings.

Saudi Arabia: On Monday, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi stated that Saudi Arabia stands ready to immediately increase its crude oil production to 11 million barrels per day, and sustain that level to replace any market shortages resulting from the effects of Hurricane Katrina in order
to stabilize world crude prices.

Canada: the Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh, has directed the Public Health Agency of Canada to contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and offer any assistance that may be helpful, such as emergency medical supplies contained in the National Emergency Stockpile System.

Australia: The Australian Government has offered to make available to the United States two specialist emergency managers to assist with the community recovery phase of the response to the natural disaster which has engulfed the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. EMA staff have worked with Indonesian officials following the Boxing Day tsunami and are very familiar with the pressure on communities following major urban disasters.

[bapcathluth]

Bless them all.

[rayne89]

Fantastic (and very touching.)

[Ani Ibi]

Canada: "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...''

A specialized urban search and rescue team from Vancouver will be joining the rescue efforts in Louisiana in the wake of hurricane Katrina. The 45- person team -- which was dispatched to Southeast Asia after the Boxing Day tsunami -- is equipped to provide emergency room doctors, building engineers and swift water rescue personnel.

the U.S. Department of Human Health Services contacted Canada's public health agency, asking for an inventory of emergency supplies that Canada could send at a moment's notice. That inventory was completed Wednesday.

Canada will be prepared to send everything from water purification systems to the Canadian military's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).

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. I have contacted our Minister of Defence (my mp) about offering low-cost lumber supplies, including the environmentally friendly oriented strand board and stress skin panels. The lumber tariffs will have to be adjusted.

Premier Dalton McGuinty spoke to the U.S. ambassador to Canada asking what the province can do. "We stand at the ready to assist,'' said McGuinty, who added Ontario could help with its Emergency Medical Assistance Team.

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

Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Suzanne Charest said lists of volunteers experienced in large-scale disasters were being assembled. Most of the volunteers will help spell off exhausted American relief workers in the coming months, she said.

[tcay584]

God bless these folks. It's nice to know that someone cares.

[Ani Ibi]

France is considering ways of mobilizing relief teams from the French Antilles in the Caribbean.

[Celia]

It's nice to know we have help from others if we need it.

[Catolico]

Ani Ibi I´m so glad you started this thread. There are many other threads focusing on the help the U.S. is not getting.
Don´t get me wrong I understand why Americans sometimes feel like nobody cares about them around the world.
The truth of the matter (believe it or not) is that there are people all over the world that do care and are saddened by what is going on.
Of course the U.S. won´t help from most countries since most countries (like mine) don´t have enough resources to do it. Obviously I´m talking about financial or technical support here.
On another thread someone said governments from another countries are not offering even condolences. Well is not like my country´s president gets on CNN or FOX every time he opens his mouth you know The point is a lot of people/governments you won´t hear about care about what is going on.
Well I just wanted to say to all who don´t already know it that you are getting millions of prayers in every language all over the world We all know you will get through this as you usually do

[Ani Ibi]

Hey! The Rolling Stones are on tour in North America round about now, aren't they? If the Rolling Stones can bring in 0.5 Million people for SARSfest in Toronto, then they can do something for New Orleans, a city which provided them with much of their early music. And where is Bono when we need him?

[Magster]

This is the first good news I've heard today! Thanks for sharing! Bless these countries and their people!

[Celeste88]

Originally Posted by Ani Ibi

Hey! The Rolling Stones are on tour in North America round about now, aren't they? If the Rolling Stones can bring in 0.5 Million people for SARSfest in Toronto, then they can do something for New Orleans, a city which provided them with much of their early music. And where is Bono when we need him?

The tickets for the Rolling Stones concerts are astronomical. $200 -$400 a ticket. Maybe one can rob a bank to go to one of their concerts.

[Thekla]

Alert Neil Cavuto and those of his ilk.

WASHINGTON - In a dramatic turnabout, the United States is now on the receiving end of help from around the world as some two dozen countries offer post-hurricane assistance.

snip

However, in Moscow, a Russian official said the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency had rejected a Russian offer to dispatch rescue teams and other aid.

snip

Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States, the spokesman said.

snip

Still, Bush told ABC-TV: “I’m not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn’t asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country’s going to rise up and take care of it.”

“You know,” he said, “we would love help, but we’re going to take care of our own business as well, and there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll succeed. And there’s no doubt in my mind, as I sit here talking to you, that New Orleans is going to rise up again as a great city.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9161198/

Something I agree with my president about.....now if they would just do it. FEMA has really dropped the ball. I remember the chaos after Andrew, but that was from people clamoring to get the supplies that were being distributed. These people have been abandoned by the federal government and it's a disgrace.

[Ani Ibi]

1) Just wondering if we can stay on topic.

2) SARSfest tickets were free.

3) More than 20 countries have offered to help the United States recover from Hurricane Katrina.

The State Department said offers so far had come from Belgium, Canada, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Britain, China, Australia, Jamaica, Honduras, Greece, Venezuela, the Organization of American States, NATO, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, South Korea, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Assistance ranged from medical teams, boats, aircraft, tents, blankets, generators and cash donations.

[geezerbob]

Thelka, nobody has been abandoned by the federal government. Everybody is mired in the chaos caused by a lot of bad decisions made early on by local and state officials. Plus, the destruction of both the primary and the backup communications networks has everybody running around in circles. The thugs who are shooting, raping, looting and robbing instead of helping are causing precious resources to be diverted away from where they are needed. The government is made up of people who are paid to do a job. Some are better than others. None are God, or even Superman, for that matter.

Now, let's take a calm look at a few of those bad decisions and some alternative courses of action.

The governors of the affected states should have put their National Guards on alert or called them up as soon as it became apparent where the hurricane was headed. Note that this is a state, not federal, responsibility. As soon as the storm had passed, they should have moved in, fully armed, to prevent civil disorder and to assist survivors. Martial law should have been declared and curfews imposed and enforced. That's how it was handled here after Hugo, but it appears that the governors this time just sat around and waited for the federal government to take over, which doesn't happen until they are asked to.

New Orleans officials, in my opinion, made the most bad decisions. They have known for years on end that the city was going to flood. Why were not the police armories, radio equipment and emergency generators placed high enough to remain accessible and functional? That's just common sense. The result of this decision is no police radio communications and many of the cops running around with no weapons. No wonder nearly half of them have resigned in disgust. Duh!

The city transit system should have been used to evacuate as many as possible of those who had no other form of transportation. Because of the short time and the traffic jams, it would have been only partially successful, but every little bit helps.

Plans should have already been in place to start evacuating the downtown shelters, hospitals and nursing homes immediately after the flooding started. Do we all know that water and sewer systems fail when submerged? Another duh.

These are but a few of the mishandled items. Put them together with all the ones not discussed and no amount of outside help can come in, wave a magic wand, and make the problems disappear in an instant. Everything is hampered by the communications problem. Local people should call the shots since they are more familiar with the situation, but when they can't communicate, it leaves a lot of well intentioned people, both governmental and volunteer, twiddling their thumbs while trying to figure out where and how to get started. Few, if any, of those on the scene can see the big picture and, even if they can, are having difficulty directing the aid efforts because of the lack of communication.

Please consider some of these things before making statements like the one you just did. It's unfair to all concerned.

[geezerbob]

Sorry to have gotten off topic. Felt like I had to respond.