Mexican volunteers cross border to aid Texas after Hurricane Harvey

(Reuters) – Mexico has come to the aid of the United States following Hurricane Harvey, sending Red Cross volunteers, food and supplies to a country whose president has proposed building a wall to keep the two neighbors apart.

Mexican volunteers wearing white vests labeled “Cruz Roja Mexicana” are distributing food and lending a sympathetic ear to some of the 1,800 storm refugees at the George R. Brown Convention Center, a temporary shelter.

A caravan of Mexican storm relief was due to be shipped north for victims of a storm that has killed some 60 people and left tens of thousands homeless since first coming ashore Aug. 25.

“We all know that there are some agreements and disagreements between governments, but for the Mexican Red Cross and the volunteers from the Mexican Red Cross, we are more than glad to be helpful and do some stuff to help people,” said Gustavo Santillan, one of the Mexican Red Cross volunteers.

Mexico was assembling relief for Harvey but the United States had not yet defined what help was required, a senior Mexican government official told Reuters.

Some 25 trailers were being prepared with rice, beans, coffee and chocolate along with 300 beds, nine generators, mobile kitchens, telecommunications equipment and personnel including paramedics and doctors, Mexico’s foreign ministry said.

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