As millions of victims grapple with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Coloradans are taking action.
The U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Operations Center in Colorado Springs has nearly 1,000 people on 24-hour duty to facilitate Federal Emergency Management Agency requests for assistance, said Michael Kucharek, chief of media relations for NORAD and Northern Command.
“We just got off a phone conversation with the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and we are going to be ratcheting it up a notch,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
Kucharek said Northern Command would be sending the USS Baton, which has “a multitude of capabilities,” and five other naval vessels in support of rescue efforts.
Additionally, an Air Force C-5 will fly from California to Lafayette, La., to deliver ice and water as well as eight Swift boats, whose crews are trained and experienced in water rescue.
Also on Tuesday, 32 members of the Colorado Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue set out for the South in a caravan of eight vehicles, said Cindy Matthews, a task force spokeswoman.
The task force is composed of members from more than a dozen metro-area fire departments as well as civilian volunteers including doctors, support medical staff, search dogs and handlers.
The team, which is funded by FEMA, is heading to Mississippi.
Dozens of local volunteers have contacted the American Red Cross to travel to the South and help recovery efforts, said Robert Thompson, director of the Mile High Chapter. More than 800 Coloradans have volunteered to receive training and field phone calls to take donations for the Red Cross, he said.
Staff writer Andy Vuong contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303 820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
