Hurricane News, Safety & Checklists

About the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund.

Monday mornings have always been one of the least popular times of the week, but at 6 am on Monday 29 August 2005, residents of southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi had  more than another week of work to worry about, as they were hit by an “extremely dangerous” category 4 storm, Hurricane Katrina.

The sheer force and devastation caused by the hurricane was almost incomprehensible with millions of people  displaced from their homes, billions of dollars worth of damage,  power supplies devastated – something needed to be done, and fast.

A few days later, on 1 September 2005, the President George W Bush enlisted the help of two former Presidents, his father, George H W Bush and Bill Clinton to help with the relief efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Who could have refused such a request?

“In the days ahead, the former Presidents will ask Americans to open their hearts and their wallets to help those in need. And they’re going to talk to large corporations and small businesses and individual citizens across the nation. The contributions will benefit the relief organizations that are doing vital work on the ground. We’re going to take a look and make sure that the money raised is money needed.”

“I was so proud of the efforts that President Clinton and President Bush did to help the victims of the tsunami relief. Our country marveled at their capacity to rally our citizens and to work together. And, once again, I’ve asked them to work to help the needs of those who hurt. And, once again, I’m confident that the American people will respond.”

And so that was the beginning of the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund. Since that day, more than 5 years ago, millions of Americans have donated billions of dollars to help the millions of victims of Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive hurricane in the history of the United States.

The Bush Clinton Katrina Fund is still going strong trying to deal with the aftermath even 5 years later, and more donations are needed for them to continue to re-build the lives and homes of the millions of victims. Online donations are still being gratefully received, and if you want to make a donation you can do so through many websites such as justgive.org.

The devastation hit the poor areas hard and many people were ill prepared to deal with such basic issues as final expenses.