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U.S. to dispatch helicopters, materials for typhoon relief

ROC Central News Agency

2009/08/15 17:55:33
Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) The United States will send heavy-lift helicopters along with other relief supplies to Taiwan in the coming days in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, the Taipei-based American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Saturday.

"The U.S. has agreed to provide U.S. personnel-operated heavy-lift helicopters and other materials to support the relief operation," AIT Press Officer Christopher Kavanagh told CNA.

Details such as the number of choppers and when and from where they will be dispatched were still being worked out, he added.

In addition to a donation of US$250,000 made by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Aug. 12, Ron Libby, a coordinator with USAID in charge of disaster response assistance and support, arrived in Taiwan Friday and was scheduled to travel to regions hardest hit by Morakot, including Pingtung and Kaohsiung counties in southern Taiwan.

Libby is tasked with assessing the extent and scale of the destruction and the resources, facilities and equipment that foreign countries can contribute to post-disaster relief and rehabilitation operations.

Taiwan has been receiving all various humanitarian care from friendly countries worldwide in the wake of the typhoon, with assistance and resources from the international community continuing to pour into the country.

The Australian government announced that day that it will donate US$168,600-worth of emergency supplies to assist the storm victims and pledged to provide sanitation supplies to combat water-borne diseases caused by flooding.

According to a press statement released by the Australian Agency for International Development, the donation will include 200,000 water purification tablets, 5,000 large buckets for treating water and for general household use, 100 sanitizer spray packs that hold disinfectant and repellent for spraying around buildings to stop disease, insects and rodents.

China Airlines will transport the shipment, which is scheduled to arrive in the country Aug. 16, free of charge.

As of that day, the MOFA had received condolences extended by 59 countries as well as the European Union and 19 international organizations. Several countries, including the United States, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, have also donated money for post-disaster rehabilitation efforts.

(By Rachel Chan) ENDITEM/J