Preparations Build for Hurricane Rita

Release Date: 09/21/05 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
September 21, 2005

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with other federal agencies, continues to prepare for Hurricane Rita. Residents in the Gulf Coast states should continue to pay close attention to Hurricane Rita and follow the instructions of local officials.

FEMA and federal agencies are pre-positioning supplies and commodities in the surrounding affected areas and potential landfall areas of the storm. The following preliminary actions have been taken:  

45 truckloads of water and ice and 25 truckloads of meals are pre-staging at federal facilities in Texas.

Over 400 medical team personnel and 14 Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces – almost 800 personnel – are pre-staging in Texas.

The state of Florida has released all of FEMA's pre-positioned teams and assets and FEMA is in the process of moving these commodities to Texas.

The U.S. Coast Guard is pre-positioning search and rescue, pollution response, and aids to navigation assets inland for post-storm response.

Coast Guard Disaster Area Response Teams (DART) departed from Metairie, La. and will be staged in Houston to provide relief in the event of a disaster.

The Coast Guard has cautioned mariners about the upcoming storm and is urging them to heed weather warnings and small craft advisories. An advisory has also been issued to evacuate all oil rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that may potentially be in the path of the storm.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Infrastructure Protection division is working closely with private sector owners and operators to ensure protective measures are underway at local critical infrastructure sites.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Northern Command has ordered four heavy-lift and four medium-lift helicopters to be staged at Patrick Air Force Base and available for potential damage assessments that would be performed by FEMA representatives.

Nearly 2,000 National Guardsmen in Texas are on state active duty and the governor has authorized the activation of up to 5,000 of the more than 10,000 National Guardsmen currently available in the state, defense officials reported today.

Additionally, Texas guardsmen serving in Louisiana are returning to Texas in anticipation of the storm as other units assume their Katrina missions, and the Air National Guard has relocated several of its aircraft from Houston to Austin as a precautionary measure.

About 1,500 guardsmen already are on duty in response to Rita throughout southern Florida, where the storm made a brush-by pass Sept. 20, and another 2,000 remain on stand-by.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has provided approximately 650 buses to the state of Texas to support preparations for Hurricane Rita.

DOT also has ordered or assigned 13 reefer trailers, 10 shuttle drivers, one tanker of diesel fuel and six trucks of tarps to the region.

The American Red Cross has resources to deliver 750,000 meals a day after Hurricane Rita makes landfall, while keeping appropriate resources in place to assist Katrina evacuees.

For more information on emergency preparedness, please visit Ready.gov or FEMA.gov.

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This page was last modified on 09/21/05 00:00:00