Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Hundreds of survivors of Hurricane Katrina lined up Thursday outside the Reliant Center in Houston in hopes of getting $2,000 government debit cards, but there's confusion about who can get the cards and when.
Tens of thousands of Louisiana refugees are still being housed in Texas.
Red Cross spokeswoman Jana Zehner says the agency issued appointment times, but shelter residents decided to begin lining up anyway.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it will issue debit cards worth up to $2,000 per household.
Zehner says the amount received will be based on the size of the family.
Logistics are still being worked out.
In fact President Bush didn’t unveil the plan to get benefits to Hurricane victims until Thursday.
The President said FEMA will distribute the debit cards to evacuees can buy food, clothing and personal items.
He said the administration is also cutting red tape to enable displaced families to receive federal benefits administered by the states even if they fled across state lines including Medicaid, food stamps, jobless compensation and child care.
Mr. Bush spoke ten days after the hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast and swamped the city of New Orleans.
He said 400,000 evacuee families have already signed up for benefits, but tens of thousands more need to do so and he appealed for patience.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bush has declared a national day of prayer and remembrance for Katrina's victims on Friday, Sept. 16.
A poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that more than half of Americans who were surveyed now say it's more important for the President to focus on domestic policy.
It's the first time since the 9/11 attacks that domestic matters have been viewed as a higher priority than the war on terrorism.
According to the survey, two-thirds say the president could've done more to get relief efforts to the Hurricane Katrina victims.
Four in ten say the response to the hurricane has made them less confident about the government's ability to handle a major terrorist attack.
Click Here For The Latest Information On Local And Texas Relief Efforts
HOW YOU CAN HELP: HURRICANE ASSISTANCE WEB SITES
Click Here For Letter Of Hope Web Site To Send Letters To Displaced Hurricane Survivors
Click Here For More Information About Waco Shelter Plans And Resources
Click Here For More Information About Killeen Shelter Plans And Resources
Click Here For More Information About Temple Shelter Plans And Resources
Click Here For OneStar Foundation Web Site
Click Here For Habitat For Humanity Web Site
Click Here For Houston Katrina Fund Web Site
Click Here For Information On Disaster Relief Appeals From The Better Business Bureau
Click Here For Reports On National Charities From The Better Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance
Click Here For Charity Tips From FEMA
Click Here For American Red Cross Web Site
Click Here For Salvation Army Web Site
Click Here For Second Harvest Web Site
Click Here For Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund Raising Campaign Web Site
Click Here For Catholic Charities Web Site
Click Here For Lutheran Disaster Response Web Site
Click Here For Lutheran Social Services Of The South Web Site
Click Here For National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Web Site
Click Here For Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Web Site
Click Here For United Methodist Committee On Relief
Click Here For Episcopal Relief & Development Web Site
Click Here For Information On Southern Baptist Relief Efforts
HURRICANE INFORMATION RESOURCES
Click Here For Department Of Defense Web Site Linking Evacuees and Military Families
Click Here For Texas Work Force Commission Web Site
Click Here For Hurricane Relief Information From U.S. Department Of Labor
Click Here For Texas Health And Human Services Commission Web Site
Click Here For Texas Education Agency Web Site
Click Here For GulfCoastPhotoFreeway.Com Missing Persons Web Site
Click Here For Katrina Shelter Web Site
Click Here For Missing Kids Web Site
Click Here For Hurricane Refugee Contact Web Site
Click Here For WWL-TV Survivors Web Forum
Click Here For Humane Society Of the United States Web Site
Click Here For National Hurricane Center Web Site
Click Here For National Weather Service Web Site
Click Here For Hydrologic Information Center For Information On River Flooding
Click Here For Federal Emergency Management Agency Web Site
Click Here For Louisiana Homeland Security Web Site
Click Here For City Of New Orleans Web Site
Click Here For Louisiana Governor’s Web Site
Click Here For State Of Mississippi Web Site
Bush 09.08.05
