Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevadans to contribute to relief efforts
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Two dozen medical support troops from the Nevada Air National Guard and Army National Guard will fly to Baton Rouge, La., today to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Nevada National Guard Capt. April Conway said troops will board a C-130 aircraft at the Reno Airbase at noon. The mission is expected to last two weeks.
Officials with the American Red Cross in Las Vegas and the Clark County Fire Department await orders before sending rescue equipment and personnel to areas hit by the hurricane.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday alerted county firefighters and others who serve on the Nevada Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to be ready for deployment.
Between 65 and 70 members of the 75-member Task Force are county firefighters trained in urban rescue and swift-water rescue, fire department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.
The Task Force is one of 28 around the country that are called upon to respond to disasters on a rotating basis. The teams are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
If the Task Force is deployed, members have six hours to gather at Nellis Air Force Base with 50,000 pounds of equipment, Leinbach said.
The Las Vegas chapter of the American Red Cross sent a two-person team and an emergency relief vehicle Tuesday and are preparing to send more people, said Penney Towers, chief executive officer of the Red Cross in Las Vegas.
The Salvation Army and the Red Cross have set up local funds for victims.
To give to Salvation Army, make checks to Salvation Army, Katrina Fund, P.O. Box 28369, Las Vegas, Nev., 89126. For more information, call 702-870-4430, ext. 23. Red Cross donations can be made at redcrosslasvegas.org; (702) 791-3311; or to 1771 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 206, Building B, Las Vegas, Nev., 89119.
Review-Journal staff writer Frank Geary contributed to this report.
