Govt. Response to Katrina - Rita

Here's some tidbits about what the Federal Government has been doing in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita...

The Coast Guard rescued 33,000 people -- six times higher than the number of rescues in all of 2004.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated the rescue of more than 6,500 people and for the first time deployed all 28 of its Urban Search and Rescue teams for a single event.

The combined rescues performed by these two agencies total almost 40,000 -- more than seven times the number of people rescued during the Florida hurricanes in 2004.

Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency performed over 1,428 missions, which included 672 law enforcement, 128 search and rescue, 78 recovery, 444 hurricane relief, and 97 other logistical support missions. During operations, CBP saved over 328 lives; provided food, water and other supplies to thousands of people impacted by the hurricanes; and donated well over $20 million dollars in seized goods and humanitarian aid.

Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) flew in hundreds of air passenger screeners and federal air marshals to supply ad hoc security during the massive airlift of storm evacuees from New Orleans. TSA processed thousands of evacuees. More than 22,000 people were flown out of New Orleans on military and civilian aircraft; in a single day at the Houston airports, more than 50,000 passengers were screened -- nearly double the traffic on previous peak days.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) helped to rescue and shelter more than 14,000 companion animals and livestock in region.

Within the first six days of the response, the Federal government delivered more than 28 million pounds of ice, 20 million pounds of commodities (such as fruits, juices, vegetables, meats and grains), 8.5 million ready-to-eat meals, and 4 million gallons of water. This exceeds the combined totals for the entire recovery operation during Hurricane Andrew.

Through USDA’s various feeding programs and in partnership with many faith-based and community organizations, over 20 million pounds of food were delivered and served to displaced residents, including almost 2 million pounds of baby food.

Nearly 1.9 million households were signed up to receive close to $900 million in USDA food stamps.

Lots... LOTS more Here.