24. Four helicopters supplied by the United States, from the Panama Canal, quickly began rescue missions. They airlifted survivors from flood waters and placed them on elevated land areas. The crew members reported that the people were desperate to get on the helicopters and during one mission, 34 people crowded on to one of the aircraft, which has a normal capacity of 15. Food packages dropped to survivors were fought over, some people reportedly fighting each other with machetes for the supplies. During several of the later rescue missions, people died from starvation and malnutrition on board the helicopters. From nearby Belize, Britain deployed 57 soldiers with motorboats to rush food to survivors in flooded regions. A group of 41 Cuban medical experts, including 21 doctors, treated nearly 900 in a period of two days. By September 24, more than 350,000 people sought refuge in shelters set up throughout the country. Red Cross volunteers were overwhelmed by the number of families requesting help to find missing relatives. Relief planes sent by the United States were initially delayed by continued inclement weather. Several days after the storm's passage, they were able to land in the country. These planes were loaded with food, clothes, water, medicine and other emergency supplies. Juan Bautista described the disaster wrought by Fifi as "the worst moment in the nation's 150-year history since independence." Donation centers were set up throughout major cities in the United States by the Honduran Government. They planned to fill three planes and five or six ships with supplies that would be brought to the country. In Miami, Florida, governor Reubin Askew asked all residents to donate to the Red Cross or Salvation Army to help those affected by the hurricane. In St. Petersburg, Florida, a team of 14 doctors was sent to the country on October 9. Other doctors set up fund drives, one set for $50,000; however, officials in Honduras believed that this would be nowhere near the necessary funds for what would become a multibillion-dollar disaster. Numerous other nations and relief agencies joined in the effort to aid Honduras in what was considered one of the largest relief operations in history. Days after the storm, brigades, deployed by the Honduran military, began to reach the hardest-hit areas as floodwaters started to recede. From Miami alone, 14 tons of relief goods were donated to Honduras. Roughly a month after the storm