From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: biz.clarinet.sample,clari.news.weather,clari.news.gov.usa,clari.news.disaster
Followup-to: biz.clarinet.sample
Subject: Federal emergency relief agencies follow and prepare for Andrew
Keywords: general weather, weather, usa federal, government, severe weather,
	trouble
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 14:27:15 PDT
ACategory: washington
Slugword: andrew-aid
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 576; Id: z5897; Sel: xxnww; Adate: 8-25-530ped
Codes: ynwwrxx., yngwrxx., ynbwrxx., tncn....

	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A federal disaster relief agency sent 100,000 food
rations, like the type combat troops used in Operation Desert Storm, 2,
000 rolls of plastic sheeting, and other assistance to south Florida
Tuesday to help the victims of Hurricane Andrew.
	``This is a destructive, high intensity disaster,'' Grant Peterson,
associate director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said of
the devastating impact of the hurricane in South Florida.
	He ordered personnel into aid coordination centers in Alexandria, La.
, and Austin, Texas, in advance of expected damage from the hurricane,
bearing down on the Louisiana-Texas Gulf coast.
	Special teams using portable power, KU band satellite communications,
and high frequency radio were being dispatched to Louisiana.
Coordinators for various federal emergency assistance agencies were
being set up at Louisiana State Univerisity at Baton Rouge, La.
	About 250 FEMA personnel were sent to Florida to deal with the
demands of thousands of residents who were without or had limited access
to food, water, electricity, shelter, and medical care.
	Peterson told reporters the agency had established a disaster field
office at the old Eastern Airline terminal at Miami International
Airport to coordinate federal assistance for the public. Residents
should not go to the coordinating center, he said, because it is a
command center and not an aid outlet.
	Peterson said assistance to South Florida included 100,000 Meals
Ready to Eat that were being flown into Opa Locka, Fla., aboard C-5A
transports for distribution to the areas hardest hit by the hurricane.
About 2,000 rolls of plastic sheeting also was being flown into the area
to help protect people and property.
	Other assistance included medical teams from Fort Wayne, Ind., and
Winston-Salem, N.C., which will provide emergency medical care and
survey damages to hospitals, and elements of the Army Corps of Engineers
to provide water and help remove some of the trees, light standards, and
other debri blocking roads and streets.
	FEMA will open disaster-relief applications centers in Florida and
other stricken areas, but until these are operating, Peterson said the
public can call 1-800-462-9029 for information. Operators are able to
handle calls in several languages.
	FEMA was helping coordinate the relief efforts of 27 federal agencies
and the Red Cross, including advance preparations in Texas and
Louisiana.
	``This is a potential disaster as well,'' he said. Emergency
assistance coordinator teams from Denton, Texas, and Denver were being
mobilized.
	``We have brought the federal family together, located the teams
close in, but not so close they will be victims,'' Peterson said.
	Elizabeth Dole, president of the Red Cross, visited South Florida
Tuesday and then went to New Orleans to monitor regional preparations
for the hurricane.
	The Red Cross sent 23 vehicles and more than 70 disaster workers to a
staging area in Jackson, Missippi. It opened 38 shelters in Louisiana,
eight in Texas, and two in Mississippi.
	Donald W. Jones, general manager of disaster services, said those
wishing to pledge aid could write to P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C.,
20013, or call 1-800-842-2200.
	Peterson declined to estimate the costs of damages in South Florida,
but community officials were projecting $15-$20 billion.
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