With Hurricane Gustav Coming, Aid Agencies Positioning People, Equipment And Supplies To Assist

New Orleans, LA (AHN) - Agencies and officials are positioning themselves in Louisiana to assist in pre-hurricane preparations as well as post-hurricane in anticipation of Category 4 Hurricane Gustav arriving on the Gulf Coast sometime Sunday or Monday .

Various agency heads outlined what they were prepared to do, both before and after Hurricane Gustav, during a live televised Federal Emergency Management Agency press conference Saturday afternoon.

Red Cross officials announced that they were prepared to furnish 600,000 meals a day to people in areas affected by Hurricane Gustav.

Small Business Administration officials announced they had streamlined processes to assist small businesses, and others, potentially needing help after a disaster and had 2,000 reserve employees standing by to help after Hurricane Gustav. They said they have pre-positioned employees in strategic areas to work with FEMA officials in evaluating needs.

Businesses, homeowners, renters and non-profit agencies can all be eligible for SBA low-interest disaster loans, officials said.

Health and Human Services is ready to start evacuating patients from hospitals and nursing homes.

With thousands of disaster personnel, including volunteers, pouring into the area with equipment and supplies, it is a vastly different situation than three years ago when federal officials stood idly by and allowed victims stranded by Hurricane Katrina to fend for themselves after the disaster, with many people dying as a result.