By Associated Press
Mobile, AL – Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that new initiatives will make responders even more effective in a future major disaster. He also praised the Coast Guard's daring rescues of Katrina flood victims.
Chertoff said a realignment of the Coast Guard will make other homeland security efforts stronger.
His visit to Mobile came the eve of the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which wrecked and flooded New Orleans and left much of coastal Mississippi in ruins. Chertoff spoke to dozens of Coast Guard aviators and flight crew members who led the Katrina rescue efforts in the hours after the storm.
Chertoff said crews from the Mobile station were credited with rescuing more than 12,000 people in the aftermath of Katrina, and the Coast Guard as a whole was widely praised for its rapid response.
Chertoff, who was accompanied by Governor Bob Riley, Senator Jeff Sessions and Representative Jo Bonner, both Alabama Republicans, said the agency's response has provided a model for others to follow.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)