PRESS RELEASES 2005

Hurricane Katrina

September 2, 2005

The United States Embassy once again wishes to express its appreciation to the Jamaican citizens, organizations and Government for their care, concern and offers of assistance to the residents of the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida who have been affected by the passage of Hurricane Katrina. 

As you have no doubt heard in statements by President George W, Bush, the United States Government is working hard to alleviate the situation affecting its citizens. 

The United States Government has accepted all offers of Foreign Government assistance in principle.

U.S. agencies are still evaluating the situation to determine the most critical immediate needs. 

Jamaican citizens are urged to direct inquiries regarding loved ones they believe to be in the affected areas to their Embassy or Consulate in the United States if they cannot first contact their loved ones/associates directly.  They can also refer to www.familylinks.icrc.org.  This site includes a specific tab for Hurricane Katrina, allowing users to consult a list of names of persons affected by the hurricane who have registered themselves on the site.

Emergency management or other appropriate websites of the affected states are as follows:

Alabama: http://www.ema.alabama.gov/

Florida:  Disaster Contractors Network at http://www.dcnonline.org/.

Louisiana: http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov or http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov.

Mississippi: http://www.mema.state.ms.us

For those individuals who wish to render assistance, the United States agency responsible for coordinating recovery efforts is the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  FEMA’s website at http://www.fema.gov/.