Following the devastation of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Gulf Coast by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

Singaporean Prime Minister The prime minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority of M ...

Lee Hsien Loong sent his personal letter of condolences to

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

while the Singaporean Foreign Minister

George Yeo George Yeo Yong-Boon ( zh, s=杨荣文, p=Yáng Róngwén; born 13 September 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2004 and 2011. Yeo served in the Singapore Army an ...

sent his personal letter of condolences to the U.S. Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

, promising support for the

American people Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

in their relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In his letter, Lee wrote:

''"The thoughts of Singaporeans and me are with you and the American people whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. America has always been generous in helping others in their time of need. We in Southeast Asia have experienced that, most recently during the tsunami relief operations. Singapore is happy to reciprocate in a small way by participating in your efforts to save lives and restore normality to your people." ''

Relief operations

On 1 September, the

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...

(RSAF) sent three CH-47 Chinook helicopters to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

to assist in relief operations. The three aircraft were based at the Peace Prairie Singapore training detachment of the

Texas Army National Guard The Texas Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Texas Military Forces (along with the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard). Texas Army National Guard units are train ...

149th Aviation Regiment The 149th Aviation Regiment is an aviation regiment of the U.S. Army. Structure * 1st Battalion (Attack) * 2nd Battalion (General Support) ** Headquarters and Headquarters Company *** Detachment 1 ( AR ARNG) ** Company A (AR ARNG) ** Company B ( ...

in Grand Prairie AASF, Grand Prairie, Texas. They arrived in Fort Polk,

in the afternoon of 1 September to aid rescue operations mainly in resupply and airlifting missions. Thirty eight RSAF personnel, comprising pilots, aircrew and technicians were also deployed. The Singapore team worked with the

in the relief efforts. On 5 September, a fourth Chinook helicopter was sent to help in the relief operations, and the number of personnel deployed increased to 45. Throughout the Singaporean relief effort, the four Chinooks flew 61 sorties. They transported hundreds of evacuees from flooded areas to safety, especially from the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

and

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is located in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The lower end of building one is located upriver from Canal Street, New Orleans, Canal Street on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is name ...

. They also picked up stragglers around the New Orleans area. The Chinooks carried a total of 540 tonnes of equipment, humanitarian aid, cargo, and supplies and rescued over 800 evacuees. They were involved in moving sand bags to block up the broken

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

s. The number of aircraft sent exceeded that of all other foreign countries. The Peace Prairie detachment was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Rodrigues. American Ambassador to Singapore

Frank Lavin Franklin L. Lavin (born October 26, 1957) is a former Republican White House aide who was the political director for Ronald Reagan between 1987 and 1989, a United States diplomat, U.S. naval officer, and a bank executive. Early life and educatio ...

said the American people were deeply grateful for Singapore's help. He added that RSAF personnel were saving lives in Louisiana and that the other Gulf Coast States and Americans would long remember this. During Hurricane Katrina, the

Singapore Red Cross The Singapore Red Cross (SRC), formally the Singapore Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Singapore. The SRC is a national member of the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Interna ...

launched a public appeal to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. It requested donations from Singaporeans to the emergency so that the fund could be used to assist displaced and homeless victims through the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

''"Singapore and Katrina"''

American

Op-Ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

columnist for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Thomas Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tr ...

wrote an article ''Singapore and Katrina'' reflecting on the American government's management performance after the hurricane, which he felt was slovenly and compared poorly to Singapore's governance. He cited among others Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...

who explained the reason behind the efficiency of the Singaporean Government: ''"... You lose New Orleans, and you have 100 other cities just like it. But we're a city-state. We lose Singapore and there is nothing else. ... "''.

References

External links

Public Appeal
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News articles
RSAF Chinooks complete hurricane relief operations in Louisiana
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Channel NewsAsia CNA (stylised as cna), which is an acronym derived from its previous name, Channel NewsAsia, is a Singaporean multinational news channel owned by the country's national public broadcaster Mediacorp. It broadcasts free-to-air domestically in Sin ...

(10 September 2005)
RSAF helicopters continue to help US hurricane victims
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(8 September 2005)
RSAF Chinooks fly 61 sorties in US hurricane relief effort
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(7 September 2005)
Singapore Red Cross launches appeal to help Hurricane Katrina victims
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(5 September 2005)
S'pore sends 4th Chinook helicopter to aid US hurricane relief efforts
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(5 September 2005)
RSAF Chinook helicopters help in US hurricane relief operations
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126150933/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/166195/1/.html , date=2005-11-26 –

(2 September 2005)
RSAF Deployment to Assist in Hurricane Katrina Relief Operations
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Ministry of Defence (Singapore) The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; ms, Kementerian Pertahanan; zh, 新加坡国防部; ta, தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the national defence of Sing ...

(2 September 2005) International responses to Hurricane Katrina

Relief operations

''"Singapore and Katrina"''

See also

References

External links