Virginia Efforts Continue to Assist in Hurricane Katrina Relief
Virginia Efforts Continue to Assist in Hurricane Katrina Relief
Virginians respond strongly with offers of assistance
Governor Mark R. Warner today provided the following updates on Virginia's response to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in and from Virginia.
"Virginians have opened their hearts, wallets, and in many cases their homes to respond to the dramatic needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina," said Governor Warner. "The Commonwealth continues to inventory offers of assistance and prepare for evacuees. Secretary Chertoff told governors across the nation today that many of the homeless in the hurricane-affected areas and in shelters in Houston and elsewhere may not want to be moved again to new shelters elsewhere in the nation. But we stand ready to take them in."
Preparations continue at Fort Pickett, the Virginia National Guard facility in Blackstone, to house 1,000 displaced people in a "one-stop shopping" service scenario with safe and semi-private housing, restroom and shower facilities, food service, health services, crisis counseling, and access to a series of government services that can help them start to rebuild their lives. Additionally, the nearby Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center in Blackstone is preparing to house an additional 400 people. Those two facilities may be the best intake facilities for new arrivals of displaced people, and other housing offers may take days or weeks to be used, if needed at all. The Red Cross and the state Emergency Operations Center continue to catalog specific housing offers for more than 3,000 displaced persons, and to notify FEMA and the affected states of their availability.
"Virginians may need to be patient with charitable organizations and government emergency workers while the affected states and federal government continue to sort through their needs," said Governor Warner. "My Chief of Staff remains in Louisiana coordinating the state-to-state relief effort, and many Virginians are on the scene serving in the effort. Remember that the best way to help is still to donate money or time to your local chapter of the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or another recognized group participating in the relief effort. Disaster officials in those areas are still discouraging individuals from self-deploying' or from shipping food, water, clothing, and other donated items through private efforts."
Any Virginian taking in a person or family displaced by Hurricane Katrina should contact their local Red Cross chapter for immediate assistance, and to access benefits, including longer-term financial assistance provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
For the latest information on Virginia efforts, www.vaemergency.com or this site remain good resources. Questions that cannot be answered there, and offers that cannot be made through a charitable organization, can be directed to the state's Public Inquiry Line at 866-880-4288.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Press_Policy/Releases/2005/Sep05/0907.htm