Local emergency crews put on call

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 | 9:56 a.m.

Southern Nevada residents may inquire about loved ones in the region stricken' by Hurricane Katrina, donate funds or sign up for classes to become a volunteer at the following sites:

For information on families and friends in Louisiana, call (866) GET-INFO or (866) 438-4636.

By mail -- Send check or money order to the American Red Cross, Southern Nevada Chapter, 1771 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 206B, Las Vegas, NV, 89119.

By phone -- (702) 791-3311

or -- (800) HELP NOW or (800) 257-7575 for Spanish speakers.

By Internet -- www.redcrosslasvegas.org.

By mail -- Send a check to the local Salvation Army, Katrina Fund at P.O. Box 28369, Las Vegas, NV, 89126. Make check payable to the Salvation Army and note on the check "Katrina Fund."

By phone -- For more information, call Charles Desiderio, development director at 870-4430, ext. 23.

The American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter offers classes to become a disaster volunteer. Upcoming classes are available on the chapter's Web site, www.redcrosslasvegas.org. Call (702) 791-3311.

The tragic aftermath of massive hurricane Katrina came home to Las Vegas families Tuesday as they tried to contact loved ones vacationing or living in New Orleans or neighboring states.

In addition, Southern Nevada emergency crews have been put on call for rescue and recovery efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, local authorities said.

Greg Malone grew up in Gulfport, Miss., and has five family members living about 50 miles north of Katrina's destructive path. They are all fine, he said, but he can't say the same for some childhood friends.

"I don't know how, but I finally reached a friend in Gulfport this afternoon," Malone said.

The first three or four blocks of the town are gone, he said.

"Two childhood friends who lived a block from the ocean decided to ride it out," he said. "A friend went by their house and said there is nothing left but a foundation. They are missing, presumed dead."

By Tuesday night, Malone said, he had heard that a third levee had weakened in New Orleans.

"It's not knowing what's going on that's hard," he said.

Another Las Vegas resident wondered how long it would be before her mother was rescued from her New Orleans vacation.

Denise Gorelick said she expects that her mother, Gayle Whitman, will spend her 59th birthday today with her husband, John Quirk, in a darkened hotel on Bourbon Street.

Whitman called Gorelick's house on Tuesday, saying there was little food or water available, no electricity, no phone service, no television and floodwaters from two broken levees were rising in the tourist district located on a hill.

Rescuers in boats and from helicopters plucked thousands of people stranded on their rooftops Tuesday to safety as authorities ordered New Orleans evacuated.

"People in her hotel are hearing rumors," Gorelick said. "It's the unknown that is scary."

Whitman, staying at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street after two moves from other hotels damaged in the hurricane, called on Sunday night.

"She told us she probably could not call us for awhile because of the storm coming in," Gorelick said.

Another Las Vegas resident has not talked to his son for days.

John Egermayer said he had not been able to reach his son, Scott Egermayer, who lives in Covington on the north side of 600-square-mile Lake Pontchartrain.

Egermayer said he was also concerned for the safety of his two grandsons, Jackson, 8, and Owen, 4.

"I talked to him Saturday at his house," said Egermayer, the senior director of sales for Nevada Care.

The family at that point was packing their belongings, he said.

Katrina brushed the southern end of the lake, but Egermayer said he was worried about the subsequent storm surge, which flooded low-lying areas of New Orleans and other rural areas overnight Monday.

Egermayer also tried phoning his son's office and cell phone on Sunday and Monday.

"I just called and think I got his cell phone," Egermayer said late Tuesday.

Egermayer said his mother always wanted him to call her and tell her if he was OK. He now knows how she felt about his calls.

"I think they're OK, but when you don't, it's tough," Egermayer said. "Until you hear their voices, you worry."

Brad Brennan, owner of the Commander's Palace and a dozen restaurants in New Orleans, said 15 members of his family were OK and heading for Houston, where the restaurant chain's operations will continue.

"We'll rebuild in New Orleans," Brennan said.

Thomas Lynn, manager of Commander's Palace at the Aladdin's Desert Passage, said his family was safe near Atlanta, Ga., but his mother was taking the disaster very hard.

"I'm trying to get my mother to come out here and party a little," Lynn said, noting that his boyhood home is in Jefferson Parrish.

Harrah's Entertainment announced Tuesday that about 1,000 people from the stricken area were visiting in Las Vegas and the resort company provided complimentary rooms for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Resort officials tracked the guests through Zip codes.

"Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are home to Harrah's resorts, Harrah's employees and our loyal customers," said Tom Jenkin, president of the company's Western Division.

"Las Vegas hotel guests from this region are our neighbors, and we want to do our part to help them," Jenkin said.

Southern Nevada emergency services crews had been called to respond to the disaster, authorities said Tuesday.

Two volunteers with the American Red Cross local chapter had less than a day to prepare. They left Las Vegas early Tuesday morning and will arrive in the disaster area on Friday.

"I'm very happy to help wherever I can," said Patrice Walko, a Red Cross volunteer, who said she had watched the people suffering in Katrina's aftermath.

Walko and Brian Garcia will head for the Red Cross staging area in Little Rock, Ark.

"We'll arrive Friday morning and then we'll be dispatched to our terminal destination," Garcia said.

Both of them went to Florida for last year's string of hurricanes so they know what they're facing, said Ed Ruttan, who is staying in Las Vegas at the Red Cross chapter office at Flamingo Road and Spencer Street to train more volunteers.

The Southern Nevada Chapter of the Red Cross says it is only accepting monetary donations at this time. It's too expensive to transport food and other items to the Gulf Coast.

They also need more volunteers.

There are classes scheduled in September, Ruttan said, and more information is available on the Red Cross Web site at www.redcrosslasvegas.org.

In addition, the Nevada Task Force-1, one of 28 Urban Search & Rescue Teams, is could be part of the emergency response, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

The 72-member team could be deployed at any time in the next three days, Leinbach said.

The special task force includes members of the Clark County Fire Department, emergency room doctors, Metro Search & Rescue specialists, including search dogs, and structural engineers, Leinbach said.

Once they are given the go-ahead, the team has six hours to become airborne with all of their specialized equipment for search and rescues in collapsed buildings, said Karl Lee, one of the team's leaders. In Katrina's wake, the team may be working underwater.