The Yanks are coming (to the Gulf coast) !

Press Release
U.S. Northern Command Support to Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief
Posted Sep 03, 2005 at 6:36:AM MDT




Release #9
Sept. 3, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE (Sept. 3, 2005, 4 a.m.)
U.S. Northern Command Support to Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – As directed by the Secretary of Defense and in accordance with the National Response Plan, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is supporting the Dept. of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

USNORTHCOM is providing and/or coordinating the following support:

New

Keesler AFB, Miss., has been designated as an operational staging area for use in supporting planned disaster relief operations.


Victims of Hurricane Katrina are airlifted into New Orleans International Airport via U.S. military transport on Sept. 2. Search and rescue crews are bringing in wave after wave of evacuees. Emergency medical crews are on hand to provide care to those with special needs. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey


Update

More than 4,600 active duty members are supporting disaster relief efforts.
More than 14,500 Guard troops are supporting disaster relief efforts.
A total of 24,091 people have been evacuated out of New Orleans
19,395 on 492 busses
4,696 on aircraft

U.S. Transportation Command is continuing to fly 10,000 people from New Orleans to Lackland AFB, Texas.

The USNS Comfort set sail Sept. 2 and is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. Gulf Coast Sept. 8.

Coordinating the delivery of 752,000 cases of Meals Ready to Eat via C-17 (more than nine million meals).

Coordinating daily fuel support to Camp Shelby, Miss., and NAS New Orleans, La., for aircraft and vehicles support ongoing operations.

Ongoing

Schoolbuses are being used to take residents to staging areas for transportation out of New Orleans.

Engineering teams are working to reopen the airfield at Naval Air Station Belle Chase to provide a second runway for passenger and cargo operations.

In addition to Coast Guard aviation, the total number of helicopters participating in humanitarian operations along the Gulf Coast rose to 139 (78 DoD, 61 National Guard) with 17 additional aircraft en route.

The Dept. of Health and Human Services is coordinating to locate 10 mobile Federal Medical Shelter facilities on military installations along the Gulf Coast. Each facility can accommodate 250 patients. Four facilities will be positioned at Ft. Polk, Louisiana; two at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; two at Air National Guard Station Meridian, Miss.; and two at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

USNORTHCOM established Joint Task Force (JTF) Katrina to act as the military’s on-scene command in support of FEMA. Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the First Army in Fort Gillem, Ga., is the JTF-commander. JTF Katrina is currently based out of Camp Shelby, Miss.

The carrier USS Harry S. Truman and dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island set sail for the U.S. Gulf Coast in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief operations. Truman will serve as the command center and afloat staging base, and will carry additional helicopters from Naval Air Station Mayport to support search and rescue efforts. Whidbey Island will bring with it the capability to employ a movable causeway to the region.

Joint Forces Command is providing Department of Defense leased property at the former England AFB in Louisiana as an intermediate staging base to support hurricane response in the state of Louisiana. This will serve as a staging point for National Guard personnel arriving from other states to support the Louisiana relief efforts.

JTF-Civil Support (JTF-CS) is providing a joint planning augmentation cell to provide domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) consequence management planning capabilities to JTF-Katrina.

Defense Coordinating Officers (DCOs) and Defense Coordinating Elements (DCEs) in Baton Rouge, La. and Jackson, Miss., to liaison between U.S. Northern Command, FEMA and the Department of Defense.

Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.; Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; Alexandria, La.; and Ft. Polk, La.; as federal operational staging areas to expedite the movement of relief supplies and emergency personnel to affected areas.

USS Bataan (LHD 5) and HSV Swift out of Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, sailed to the waters off Louisiana to provide support. Currently, the four MH-53s and two HH-60s off the Bataan are flying medevac and search and rescue missions in Louisiana and Mississippi. Bataan’s hospital may also be used for medical support.

The Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) is sailing from Norfolk, Va. loaded with disaster response equipment. The (ESG) consists of USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), USS Shreveport (LPD 12), and USS Tortuga (LSD 46). USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8) is already on station providing fuel and stores for naval support efforts. The ESG is expected to be operating off the Louisiana coast beginning Sept. 4.

The USS Grapple (ARS 53) is en route with 31 divers aboard to assist with maritime and underwater survey and salvage operations.

USNORTHCOM’s 24-hour Joint Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been augmented with additional personnel to facilitate any additional requests for assistance that may come from FEMA representatives.

The impact of providing such assistance will not adversely affect military preparedness. The DoD is fully engaged in supporting the massive interagency effort to save lives, reduce suffering and protect the infrastructure of the homeland.

Posted By: oh arr, Sep 3, 17:02:33