Five more U.S. military relief flights were sent to Georgia on Monday carrying medical and other humanitarian supplies following the same number of weekend missions, the State Department said Monday. “Five flights arrived in Tbilisi over the weekend carrying State Department-provided sleeping bags, blankets, burn bandages, and first-aid kits for distribution to internally displaced persons,” said Robert Wood, a department spokesman. “Five additional flights are scheduled for today, August 18, carrying an estimated 25,000 Defense Department-provided MREs (meals ready to eat) as well as 3,000 hygiene kits provided by USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and the office of foreign disaster assistance,” Wood told reporters. USAID experts began arriving Friday to assess the needs in Georgia, joining a U.S. military assessment team that arrived the previous day. According to Wood, since the beginning of the humanitarian effort last week, the U.S. government has provided more than $4.2 million in emergency relief supplies. He said daily multiple flights with humanitarian goods were scheduled to continue until at least August 23.
