Stranded Supplies Headed for Hurricane Victims

Stranded for weeks by bureaucratic red tape, thousands of pounds of relief supplies destined for victims of Hurricane Mitch were finally loaded aboard a Mexican cargo ship Wednesday to begin the voyage to Central America.

Officials at the Port of San Francisco said 30 containers full of medical supplies, food, grains, mattresses and clothing were put aboard the Leon of Transportacion Maritima Mexicana. They said other shipments would take place later in the week.

“Our port was proud to participate in arranging storage and shipping of these relief goods because our community assembled the largest collection of privately donated relief goods in the U.S.,” port Executive Director Doug Wong said in a statement.

More than a million pounds of donated relief supplies poured into San Francisco reception centers after Hurricane Mitch slammed into Central America in late October, killing at least 9,000 people.

But U.S. government regulations requiring that all donated goods be cataloged and appropriately packaged, and various transportation problems, left the relief supplies languishing in warehouses, unable to reach their destinations in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, local officials said.

After a funding drive in the private sector spearheaded by the Hispanic Community Foundation, enough money was raised to send the relief to where it was needed. The Mexican ships will carry the aid at reduced rates, officials said, and in San Francisco the ships will be loaded by volunteer longshoremen.

“We tried to get all these goods shipped via the government and ran smack into gridlock,” port spokeswoman Veronica Sanchez said.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to say to the government, ‘Thank you, but no thank you. Our community can do it on its own.’ ”