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Relief Efforts Following Natural Disasters in American Samoa and the Philippines

October 5, 2009

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (RPRN) 10/05/09 — Our thoughts and prayers go out to the survivors who lost loved ones and suffered devastation in the recent natural disasters in the Pacific. The Congress, and indeed the entire United States government, stands by ready to assist the victims of these natural disasters.

People are beginning to receive the assistance they need thanks to the tireless efforts of the first-responders and relief workers who have provided aid and comfort to those harmed by these recent events. It is in times like this that we all must join together to help those in need, and I am appreciative of the many in San Francisco and the Bay Area who have joined in these critical relief efforts.

Typhoon & Flooding in the Philippines
Following Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ondoy, disastrous flooding killed more than 250 Filipinos and left hundreds of thousands displaced. The State Department will coordinate United States disaster assistance efforts, and the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already deployed emergency response teams to affected areas to render assistance.

Inquiries concerning U.S. citizens living or traveling in the Philippines should be referred to the U.S. State Department at 1-888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225, or online at www.state.gov.

For information about ongoing rescue efforts and lists of casualties please visit the Filipino National Disaster Coordinating Council web site at www.ndcc.gov.ph, or the Philippine National Red Cross website at www.redcross.org.ph.

You can also learn more about relief efforts being organized in San Francisco.

Earthquake & Tsunami in American Samoa
Last Tuesday, a massive earthquake of 8.8 magnitude struck near the American territory of American Samoa, causing four tsunamis to hit the Pacific islands, leaving a death toll of almost 200.

President Obama issued a major disaster declaration, and FEMA, along with the United States Coast Guard, the American Red Cross, and the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, are engaged in disaster relief efforts. Relief is being coordinated by FEMA’s Region IX, which is based in the Bay Area.

For families or friends concerned about locating loved ones, please visit FEMA’s National Emergency Family Registry and Locator System at https://asd.fema.gov/inter/nefrls/home.htm, or by calling 1-800-588-9822. For more information regarding relief efforts, please visit the Red Cross website.

You can also learn more about relief efforts being organized in San Francisco.

New San Francisco Office
My San Francisco Congressional Office has moved. We are now located in the new Federal Building at 90 7th Street, Suite 2-800, San Francisco, California 94103. The phone number will remain the same, 415-556-4862.

Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends.  To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my Web site.

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