Post by Shadow on Sept 9, 2005 12:12:26 GMT -5
WOAI
By ABE LEVY, Associated Press Writer
LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A Mexican army convoy crossed into the United States on Thursday to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
About 45 vehicles carrying 200 or so people were bound for San Antonio, carrying treatment plants, mobile kitchens and supplies to feed the displaced Louisiana victims. It is the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846.
The first green tractor-trailers, with Mexican flags attached to the tops of their cabs, crossed the international bridge at Laredo at about 8:15 a.m.
The convoy will be escorted by the U.S. Army and the Texas Department of Public Safety. It was scheduled to leave after the leader of the convoy, Gen. Francisco Ortiz Valadez, greeted the head of the U.S. Army unit in charge of the escort, Brig. Gen. F. Joseph Prasek.
The convoy includes two mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people a day, three flatbed trucks carrying mobile water treatment plants and 15 trailers of bottled water, blankets and applesauce. It also includes military engineers, doctors and nurses.
An estimated 97,000 hurricane refugees were staying in major Red Cross shelters in Texas since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Thousands more were in smaller shelters, hotels or private housing, including about 5,000 in San Antonio.
By ABE LEVY, Associated Press Writer
LAREDO, Texas (AP) -- A Mexican army convoy crossed into the United States on Thursday to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
About 45 vehicles carrying 200 or so people were bound for San Antonio, carrying treatment plants, mobile kitchens and supplies to feed the displaced Louisiana victims. It is the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846.
The first green tractor-trailers, with Mexican flags attached to the tops of their cabs, crossed the international bridge at Laredo at about 8:15 a.m.
The convoy will be escorted by the U.S. Army and the Texas Department of Public Safety. It was scheduled to leave after the leader of the convoy, Gen. Francisco Ortiz Valadez, greeted the head of the U.S. Army unit in charge of the escort, Brig. Gen. F. Joseph Prasek.
The convoy includes two mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people a day, three flatbed trucks carrying mobile water treatment plants and 15 trailers of bottled water, blankets and applesauce. It also includes military engineers, doctors and nurses.
An estimated 97,000 hurricane refugees were staying in major Red Cross shelters in Texas since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Thousands more were in smaller shelters, hotels or private housing, including about 5,000 in San Antonio.
