In the days after the storm struck Guadeloupe, there was a food shortage. Officials quickly cleared roads and worked to restore the damaged banana crop. Charles de Gaulle visited the island, and the French population unified to provide assistance to the island. In late October 1966, the French government set up a relief fund for Guadeloupe totaling $34 million (₣170 million francs). The government initiated plans to rebuild the island to withstand the winds of strong hurricanes. The United States Agency for International Development flew 20,000 pounds of blankets and clothing to the island. Due to the heavy damage in Hispaniola, VMM-365, a United States Marine Corps helicopter division, spent 454 hours and flew 740 sorties to provide 186,676 tons of relief supplies to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The division also helped evacuate 142 hospital patients. The Dominican Air Force also assisted in transporting injured people from outlying areas to Santo Domingo. The country deployed 5,000 troops to send food, medicine, and clothing to the storm-damaged areas in the interior, as well as Barahona Peninsula. The Holy See sent $2,000 to assist the residents affected by the storm in Haiti. After a nearly ten year boycott due to the actions of Haitian president François Duvalier, the United States provided a $1.3 million loan to the country to help rebuild infrastructure and provide education. Industrialist Clint Murchison gave $50,000 in flour and food from a mill he owned in the country. The United States also sent vaccines and 4,360 pounds of food.