Navy to deliver drinking water to Bangladesh

[unhappycamper]

Navy to deliver drinking water to Bangladesh
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 23, 2007 21:25:17 EST

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — The U.S. military will deliver drinking water to the cyclone-ravaged southern part of Bangladesh, the top military commander in the Pacific said Friday.

Navy ships offshore, along with water purification machines flown in from Hawaii by the Air Force, will generate water that U.S. troops will fly and truck in to the storm survivors, Navy Adm. Timothy Keating said.

“Bangladesh needs help and we’re happy to provide it,” the head of Pacific Command told reporters after a visit to the country to assess disaster aid needs. “We’re going to try to restore fresh water to the southern part of Bangladesh.”

The U.S. military is also prepared to offer medical care and to deliver food donated by international agencies, Keating said.

But fresh water is among the greatest needs in storm-hit areas.

Residents, who live in an area with low rainfall, rely on ponds to accumulate water for all their needs, but these were flooded by the cyclone.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_bangladesh_cycloneresponse_071123/