As Hurricane Gustav battered the Gulf Coast, AmeriCares was there to face the storm with emergency response expertise. AmeriCares traveled toward the storm-ravaged areas to assess the damage and provide much-needed relief, while New Orleans and Baton Rouge residents were safely evacuated.
AmeriCares Emergency Response Manager Jonathan Hodgdon was on the ground in Baton Rouge, La. immediately after Hurricane Gustav struck.
“I saw people hunkered-down along the highways, living out of their cars because the hotels were all full. They were trying to conserve the gas they had left since all the gas stations in the area were out of fuel,” Hodgdon said. “Electricity for most of Baton Rouge was out; half of the land lines in New Orleans were down; ATMs weren’t working due to power outages.”
AmeriCares and Nestlé Waters North America partnered to provide bottled water for residents of Louisiana and Texas staying in shelters and returning to homes without electricity. AmeriCares also sent two generators to keep primary care clinics open in Baton Rouge that lost power.
Just as the communities hit by Hurricane Gustav begin to clean up, other tropical storms are developing that could pose a threat to the United States. AmeriCares will continue to monitor the storms, the needs of people in the path of those storms, and provide emergency aid to those hit hardest throughout the hurricane season
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