.

There likely will be a lot of damage from Hurricane Gustav. To donate funds for the victims of Hurricane Gustav, call 1 800 Red Cross. They are there in Louisiana on the ground taking care of those hurricane victims.

Unfortunately, in an election year, it is difficult to keep politics out of anything. That includes Hurricane Gustav.

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney did the right thing by not going to Louisiana during this hurricane and the evacuation. Anytime a president goes to a city, local government and police resources are strained because of security and other matters. Officials in Louisiana were using those resources to prepare for Hurricane Gustav and did not need the distraction.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama said the same thing and stayed away from Louisiana during Hurricane Gustav. He knew they did not need the distraction and that there is nothing he can do anyway.

John McCain is not at his convention because of Hurricane Gustav supposedly. John, let me reassure you. They do not need you in or around Louisiana with a concerned look on your face because you think it will win you votes. You are running for President. You are not President. There is nothing you can do.

They had to evacuate the nursing homes in Louisiana. Don’t distract them by showing up. They might think you belong in one of those evacuation buses. Go back to your convention. Have your party.

More than $15 million in federal disaster grants and loans has been approved so far by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for Illinois residents who suffered damages and losses from the severe storms and flooding June 1 through July 22.

The new James Bond (Daniel Craig ) is helping a group of Diasaster Victims in Pyin-kha-yaing town a small fishing village in the country of Myanmar, with fishing boats after they where destroyed by Cyclone Nargis in May. Mr. Craig is handing over around 13,000 Dollars so he can purchase kayaks for this group of Disaster victims when there small fishing vessels were destroyed by cyclone Nargis.

His representative came to Myanmar and said he will pay for 25 fishing boats, and our committee brought the representative to that village,” a member from the fishery rehabilitation committee told the publication.

It will cost about 15 million kyats (about 12,345 dollars) for the fishing boats made locally, he said.

Katrina Aid Today is a national case management consortium which will provide disaster case management services to disaster vicitms. It was created by The United Methodist Committee on Relief. They just received $24.5M in federal funding to add to the more than $66M they received from foreign nations and non-profit agencies.

A growing number of researchers and volunteers have been trying to apply the lessons learned from past disasters and offer help to the disaster victims of the Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake and the recent 7.9 earthquake which leveled much of the Sichuan Province in China.

In early July, about two weeks after the Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake, a nine-member team led by Prof. Yoshiteru Murosaki of Kwansei Gakuin University, who heads the Japan Society for Disaster Recovery and Revitalization, visited a shelter in the Koei district of Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture.

The U.S. Small Business Administration reminds homeowners, renters, businesses and non-profit organizations of the deadline to submit disaster loan applications for damage caused by the Queen Anne’s Gate Apartments fire that occurred on June 14, 2008. The deadline to file an application for physical damage is September 2, 2008.

Cedar Rapids, Ia. — Federal officials need to speed up their response to the $10 billion in disaster damages in Iowa and decide how much federal money they’re going to chip in, Iowans told Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama this morning.

“When you talk about the federal government being powerful and effective and swift, I think two out of three are there,” said Scott Jamieson, the chief executive of Horizons, a Cedar Rapids nonprofit mental health counseling center.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that $5.8M in disaster relief has yet to be released to the disaster victims.

The World Health Organization has been closely monitoring the situation and estimates the amount needed to be $12.8M now.

Total cost for disaster vicitm relief and reconstruction of the devastated area is estimated to cost more than $1 billion.

The disaster has left at least 138,000 missing or dead.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announces today the opening of three additional Disaster Loan Outreach Centers and one Business Recovery Center on Monday, July 21 at 9 a.m. The locations of the Centers will make it convenient for disaster victims affected by the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding of June 5 and continuing to apply for disaster loan assistance. The SBA encourages victims to visit the Centers to apply for assistance.

The value of disaster loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration from flooding and tornadoes this spring in Iowa has passed the $100 million mark.

The agency as of Thursday had approved more than $101.1 million in disaster loans, according to Joe Folsom, the agency’s district director for Iowa.