From Gov. Kaine's office:
VIRGINIA RESPONDS TO HURRICANE GUSTAV
~ Corrects staging area location ~RICHMOND - Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that resources from the Commonwealth of Virginia will be dispatched to Louisiana in response to the threat of Hurricane Gustav, a major storm aiming for the Gulf Coast.
A Task Force team of 30 law enforcement officers with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will leave Sunday, Aug. 31, to arrive at a staging area in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries by Monday morning. They are trained to work in law enforcement as well as search, rescue and evacuation operations in high water areas. The team is equipped with chainsaws, axes, extra fuel, parts and equipment designed for self-sufficiency in the bayou areas of south Louisiana. It is expected that the team will work for about a week before returning to Virginia.
"We have been working for several days with other states to be ready to respond as soon as requests come in from affected areas," Governor Kaine said. "We will share our resources and help in any way we can."
Governor Kaine activated the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Friday, Aug. 29, to help states on the Gulf Coast prepare for and respond to the potential impacts of Hurricane Gustav. EMAC is a national interstate mutual aid agreement that enables states to share resources during times of disaster.
As a result of EMAC activation, many Virginia state agencies, localities and organizations identified and readied resources that can be deployed and are standing by to respond to additional requests as they are received.
Governor Kaine asks any volunteers or first responders to refrain from self-deploying to the area. Those who wish to help should contact a volunteer organization with a response mission, such as those listed on the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Web site, http://www.nvoad.org.
But please send more. You will see thousands of Florida power trucks heading north. The greatest challenge is getting basic infrastructure back up - clean water, power, roads cleared of debris, etc. If you have a cherry picker and a chainsaw, you're worth a million bucks at times like this.
And then of course we need ice, portable water, tents (assuming entire neighborhoods will be wiped off the face of the earth), and food.
Governor Kaine asks any volunteers or first responders to refrain from self-deploying to the area.
I agree. That's why we need a smart government response - organized and well planned. I pray that the local governments have figured out by now that FEMA and our federal government can not be relied upon. They have got to pull themselves out of this possible disaster - especially with this administration still in office.
The Republicans have alot to prove this week - will THEIR administration get the job done? Let's hope so. I don't want the response this time to be as shamefull as it was last time.
...McCain could get this briefing over the phone or as a web conference (not that he knows what that is). He doesn't want information. He wants pictures. This is just another example of McCain putting politics first.As a Senator, there is basically nothing McCain can do right now to help anyone in the Gulf Coast prepare for a hurricane. Not a thing. Just like there was not a thing he could do in Iowa during the floods. This is pure politics -- and McCain doesn't care how it interferes with the ongoing operation. It's actually pretty craven. Once again, McCain puts McCain's political interests first.
This you know is true: If Obama, Michelle and Biden headed to the Gulf Coast today, Haley Barbour would be the first one to criticize him for interfering with hurricane operations. And, the entire political press corps would dutifully report it.
McCain: once again putting politics first, country second.
With McCain going, you know that law enforcement must be diverted from their emergency preperation tasks - for what? A photo op?
I think we are within our rights to criticize McCain for putting additional strain on law enforcement - at a time they should be preparing to secure their communities. This is a gross misuse of limited law enforecement resources in this region.
Personally, I think how Bush handled Katrina was cause for impeachment. Have you ever played the game of Civilization and really screwed up everything- to ultimately be deposed? That is what Bush is doing, only it isn't a game. And he won't get deposed.