Police Chief Reaches Out South of the Border

Like millions of Canadians, North Bay Police Chief Paul Cook, has been watching in disbelief as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina unfolds south of the border.

And the events of this week in New Orleans prompts the question is North Bay prepared for a natural disaster.

“We have an emergency operation centre and we meet on a regular basis we also do mock scenarios and training exercises, so certainly there’s some training involved, whether or not we’re prepared to deal with a disaster the magnitude of what’s going on in the states, you know hopefully we will never have to put ourselves to that kind of test,” states Cook.

“From a policing perspective I can’t imagine what the law enforcement officers and other emergency responders are going through trying to assist those people and we can see from following the media there’s a lot of frustration that’s taking place and I would think that the emergency services people and the police are doing their jobs to the best of their ability, but just faced with an overwhelming disaster.”

Cook, who has contacts in the south has tried to reach out to his colleagues but with no power in his region his calls have gone unanswered.

“I certainly have been on the phone and sent some emails for people that I met through the FBI National Academy that I became good friends with that are stationed in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi just to see how they’re doing, and I’ve yet to hear back but I’m not surprised by that.”

The Canadian Red Cross has sent trained volunteers to help with the relief efforts a number from the Sudbury district.

Donations in North Bay are being received at the local Canadian Red Cross branch at 101 Worthington St. E. Suite 232 ( City Centre Building) during regular office hours Ph 4725760.

Concerned citizens may also call in a donation by credit card if they wish.

Cheques can be made to out to Canadian Red Cross and designated to Hurricane Katrina fund

The branch also has someone on standby to be send to the south as well.

Concerned citizens wanting to make financial contributions to the disaster relief fund can start making donations starting September 6, at the following banks:

BMO Bank of Montreal
Canadian Western Bank
CIBC
HSBC Bank Canada
National Bank of Canada
RBC Royal Bank
Scotiabank
TD Canada Trust