Many countries and international organizations offered the United States relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. According to the European Commission, six days after the disaster, on September 4, 2005, the United States officially asked the European Union for emergency help, asking for blankets, emergency medical kits, water and 500,000 food rations for victims. Help proposed by EU member states was coordinated through their crisis center. The British presidency of the EU functioned as contact with the U.S.