Today, nine days after Hurricane Katrina struck, International Aid delivered urgently needed aid to nine small towns in the Washington Parish of Louisiana. These towns, unbelievably, had not yet received any outside aid. The towns, all located in the rural "boot" area of Louisiana were hit particularly hard by the devastating winds.
Upon learning of the needs, International Aid diverted a relief helicopter loaded with basic relief supplies. As the pilot and co-pilot unloaded the helicopter, they learned that many people were suffering from dehydration and dysentery. A local doctor was able to supply the team with a list of the most critical medicines.
The team returned to International Aid's warehouse to load up what medicines they could find and placed an urgent request for the remainder. International Aid then loaded critically needed food and water on a semi-truck and sent it on the 100 mile run to one of the town's firehouses.
This was just one small part of a day that saw ten trucks loaded with relief supplies arrive in the warehouse and over a dozen missions sent out to deliver critically needed supplies.
"The tempo and level of activity at the warehouse is unbelievable", said Leslie Borgman, International Aid relief coordinator. "Teams came back with tears of joy after they saw the difference that they could make in people's lives".
The Grand Rapids Press has had a reporter imbedded with the International Aid team for the past three days. You can read his report at www.mlive.com/grpress
"As more churches and government agencies find out about our capability to deliver products quickly to field, they are flooding us with requests", said International Aid Vice President Scott Whiting who is overseeing the distribution effort in the field.
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