Congressman Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL) comments on the challenges facing Haiti after several hurricanes, bring up issues with contaminated water, comparing the situation with the aftermath of Katrina. (0:48)
Senator John McCain (R – AZ) campaign manager Rick Davis held a conference call Monday morning to discuss the schedule for the week and fundraising. An information center has been established in the Xcel Energy Center for delegates and participants to monitor the weather in the southern states.
Campaign manager Rick Davis said Laura Bush will introduce a video and Cindy McCain will address the delegates following todays official events. The speech will be mostly non-political and will ask for hurricane relief.
The McCain campaign, in conjunction with Target and FedEx, is also creating 80,000 “comfort packages” that will go to the regions impacted by Hurricane Gustav. The packages will be assembled at the convention site beginning Wednesday morning. Volunteers interested in helping to pack the contents of the packages will be accepted then.
McCain’s campaign has begun a fundraising effort together with five governors from the affected region. They will identify charitabble organizations able to assist those impacted by the hurricane. In addition to working with those at the convention to raise money, the campaign has also set up a phone bank at the Minneapolis Hilton manned by a team of volunteers. These efforts will concentrate on reaching out to McCain’s previous donors.
At a congressional briefing, Red Cross Disaster Services Senior Vice President Joe Becker said that, in the event of the worst potential disaster, the Red Cross would not be fully prepared. He said that the Red Cross is completely prepared to handle the kind of disasters experts have predicted, even one that is worse than hurricane Katrina. He said that the Red Cross is currently dealing with at least 15 crises all over the country. He said the Red Cross has the potential to deliver up to four thousand volunteers per day depending on the severity of the disaster and the need for intervention.
Becker said that the hurricane season lasts from June to November and there is a 70 percent chance that at least a category three hurricane will hit the east coast sometime this year. He said that currently the Red Cross has the ability to serve one million meals per day for as many days as is necessary. Becker said that the red cross has over 49,000 buildings it can use as shelters during a disaster, and these buildings can hold up to 5.3 million people.
One of the major problems, Becker said, was a failing IT system used during hurricane Katrina. He said that the new IT system currently in place can hold up to ten million cases and there only 2.3 million in the database at this time. He also said that only eight to ten percent of Americans have taken the necessary precautions against severe weather.
Scot Marciel, deputy assistance secretary of state said that the crisis in Myanmar and the difficulty of getting humaitarian aid is not a U.S./Burma issue, but the Myanmar regime is sayin ‘no’ to help from the entire world. (1:08)
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel warns Senior General Than Shwe and other Burmese leaders that the blame will rest on their heads unless they start opening their doors to international humanitarian aid organizations. (1:03)
The Committee on Foreign Affairs met today to discuss Myanmar in the aftermath of cyclone Nargis. Scot Marciel, deputy assistant secretary of state, criticized the Myanmar government’s handling of the disaster, saying it was “appalling.” (more…)
