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USA: Red Cross supports shipboard Katrina evacuees

Allen Crabtree , Special to RedCross.org
Monday, March 06, 2006 -- NEW ORLEANS -- During the six-month emergency phase following Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross provided clothes and supplies for New Orleans city workers living on docked ships made available by the Carnival Cruise Line. The city employees and their families had lost everything in the hurricane and were living in a city bereft of stores.

Throughout that time, a Red Cross volunteer was assigned to cruise ships Sensation and Ecstasy to coordinate deliveries of relief supplies. Cindy Dudley of Cedar City, Utah, arrived in the Gulf in September 2005, when the program was well underway.

"We had a daily supply run from Warehouse #4 in Walker, and the Red Cross provided everything from toothpaste to underwear for the police and firefighters and their families living on board these ships," Dudley explained. Her job was to compile a daily list of needs from the ships and pass them along to workers at the warehouse. The next day warehouse workers brought the needed items to the ships.

"Many of these people lost everything, and they are still out there every day doing their jobs protecting the city. They are living in pretty close quarters, but they have developed a wonderfully supportive community on board," Dudley said.

Katrina's six month anniversary

The sixth month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina marked a big change. As the contract between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Carnival Cruise Lines concluded, city workers left the ships for FEMA trailers or hotels. The role of the Red Cross also changed.

As the people of New Orleans begin to rebuild their lives, the Red Cross has moved into a longer-term community recovery effort to assistant survivors in accessing physical and mental health resources, to aid families in finding the community resources and to work with long-standing partners to help communities meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Katrina. What hasn't changed is that Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) continue to provide hot meals, water and supplies to those in need from a contract kitchen in New Orleans.

"We have plenty of Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) and Heater Meals as well as water and snacks," Dorothy White, Red Cross volunteer from Hillsboro, Ore., who has been on Katrina relief assignments since October 2005. "When people go back to their neighborhoods to live in their trailers and work on rebuilding their homes, we will be there with our ERVs."

An ERV was on the docks as city workers began moving from the ships on March 1.

"For many this is going to be an emotional change, as they move from the close community that they had on board the cruise ships to situations where they may be isolated in their FEMA trailers," said Mary Sutton, Southeast Louisiana Chapter Red Cross board member. "Our mental health counselors are sensitive to this need and will offer help to smooth the transition."

Roslyn Thomas, the wife of a New Orleans policeman, is a little apprehensive about the move.

"We're going to be cramped in our new trailer," she said. "I'll miss the company of the other families we have been living with for so long on the Ecstasy."

Thomas added, "I really appreciate what the Red Cross has done for us since we have been here. When I couldn't buy any clothes because all the stores were closed, the Red Cross took care of our needs. I know that the Red Cross is there to help me through this next stage as well."

At the peak, the Carnival Lines Sensation and Ecstasy housed 4,675 Katrina evacuees. By 3 p.m. on March 1, the ships were completely empty of their guests and the crew and technicians who would begin refitting the two ships began boarding. On Thursday, March 2, the ships left New Orleans bound for dry dock in Mobile, Ala., before resuming their cruise operations.

Allen Crabtree is a volunteer from the Southern Maine Chapter of the American Red Cross and lives in Sebago, Maine. He is a writer, antiquarian book dealer, blueberry farmer, town Selectman, volunteer fire fighter and ambulance driver.

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors -- across the street, across the country and across the world -- in emergencies. Each year, in communities large and small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new -- the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through more than 800 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Some 4 million people give blood -- the gift of life -- through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of more than 180 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

Disclaimer

American Red Cross
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is provided at no cost, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. To help the victims of disaster, you may make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives. © Copyright, The American National Red Cross. All Rights Reserved.