Relief workers and law enforcement agencies in California are gearing up to provide assistance if Hurricane Gustav, which is expected to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast Monday, is as destructive as many fear.
Seven volunteers will join about 25 paid staff and volunteers from the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles and at least two California task forces already staging in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a Red Cross spokesman said Saturday.
They will provide assistance in mass care, disaster mental health and volunteer training once they reach San Antonio, according to spokesman Nicholas Samaniego.
In the Los Angeles area, the local Red Cross is ready to provide temporary housing for Gustav evacuees if they come here.
"We are ready to receive evacuees just as we did during Katrina," said the spokesman.
Meanwhile, 28 Los Angeles firefighters left Saturday for Houston to get ready for Hurricane Gustav to come ashore.
Weather forecasters said Saturday Gustav was close to become a worst-case Category 5 hurricane as it plowed through Cuba.
However, it was unclear how many of the evacuees were headed to the Los Angeles region.
More than 1 million Gulf Coast-area residents and visitors had streamed out of New Orleans and other coastal cities, where Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,600 people two years ago, according to news reports.
Source:Xinhua
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