The only difference between adventure and disaster is preparedness.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Red Cross Response to Chilean Earthquake


The American Red Cross has made an initial $50,000 available for relief operations in Chile following Saturday’s massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake; and we stand ready to mobilize additional support, including relief supplies, trained personnel and additional financial assistance.
• Chilean Red Cross volunteers are providing limited search and rescue services, administering first aid and distributing pre-positioned supplies in close coordination with the Chilean National Emergency Office.
• A regional Red Cross disaster expert is now in Chile working with the local Red Cross to assess the situation, while an American Red Cross representative and a team of other Red Cross emergency workers are enroute.
• Some neighboring countries’ Red Cross leaders have been in contact with the Chilean Red Cross to offer their support, if requested. In addition to the $50,000 USD released by the American Red Cross the British Red Cross has offered another $50,000 GBP.
Our hearts go out to the people of Chile as they cope with the immediate aftermath of this devastating earthquake and its aftershocks.
• Chilean officials report that more than 2 million people have been affected by the earthquake and approximately 1.5 million houses may have sustained damage. Water and electricity have been severely restricted or cut off and communications systems are down.
• In Santiago, the country’s capital, the international airport is reported to have sustained damages, but has reopened. Major ports have also been damaged and bridges connecting the central regions of the country have collapsed limiting access to the affected regions.
• Volunteers in the affected region have been asked to report to their nearest branch office to support the response. The Chilean Red Cross has 29 branches in Bio Bio and 14 in Maule.
All tsunami warnings as a result of Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Chile have been cancelled. The American Red Cross will continue to closely monitor the situation and is prepared to help the people of Hawaii and the U.S. territories in the Pacific if needed.
• The American Red Cross Disaster Operations Center in Washington, D.C. has worked in close coordination with chapters in Hawaii, California, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas since tsunami warnings were issued early Saturday morning. As of Sunday afternoon, there are no reports of significant damage.
• The threat of yesterday’s tsunami serves as an important reminder that disasters can happen anywhere at anytime. The best way to make you and your family safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes.
• For more information of tsunami or earthquake preparedness visit http://www.swwashington.redcross.org/.

The American Red Cross is monitoring the situation in Chile while continuing to support the massive relief operations in Haiti, where more than 1.3 million people have been helped since the January 12th earthquake in that country..

• Over 600 Red Cross/Red Crescent workers from more than 30 national societies have been deployed to Haiti and are working alongside an estimated 13,000 Haitian National Red Cross Society volunteers.
• More than six weeks since the earthquake struck, the immense needs in Haiti continue. All humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, are racing against the clock to provide safe, waterproof shelter before the rainy season beings in April.
• As the largest global humanitarian network, the Red Cross has both the experience and the capacity to respond simultaneously to multiple disasters. Today, we are supporting the Chilean Red Cross in their response to the earthquake while relief operations continue in Haiti. Last fall the Red Cross responded to a series of major disasters that hit the Asia and Pacific region within a week: back-to-back typhoons in Southeast Asia, an earthquake in Indonesia and a tsunami in America Samoa and Samoa.

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