- WASHINGTON - The federal
government's relief agency said Friday it will discontinue its program
to distribute $2,000 debit cards to hurricane victims and use bank deposits
instead, two days after hastily announcing the novel plan to provide quick
relief.
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- The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it will
scrap the program once officials finish distributing cards this weekend
at shelters in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, where many of the evacuees
were moved. No cards will be issued to victims in other states.
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- Hurricane victims at other locations will have to apply
for expedited aid through the agency's traditional route - filling out
information on FEMA's Web site to receive direct bank deposits, FEMA spokeswoman
Natalie Rule said.
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- "We tried it as an innovative way to get aid to
evacuee populations in Texas. We decided it would be more expeditious with
direct deposits," she said, citing the large staffing operation that
would be required to replicate the Texas operation in other states.
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- Under fire for its initial response to the hurricane,
FEMA Director Michael Brown had announced the debit card program as a way
to quickly get $2,000 to the neediest families and empower them "to
make their own decisions about what do they need to have to start rebuilding
their lives."
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- He did not describe the program as applying only to Texas,
which has accepted the largest number of evacuees and is the home state
of President Bush, though Rule said that always was the plan.
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- The program called for debit cards to be issued to one
member of each household and was aimed at people who did not have bank
accounts or addresses to receive checks. The cards could be used at any
ATM within 24 hours of issuance, faster than traditional FEMA aid, which
can take several days or longer to process.
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- But from the outset, there was confusion.
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- Word spread quickly among the thousands of refugees in
the Houston Astrodome following announcement of the program Wednesday.
FEMA workers, however, were unaware of the announcement and had no cards
to offer.
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- On Thursday, the Red Cross began distributing its own
debit cards at the Astrodome. The Red Cross assigned appointment times
to the refugees, but many people started lining up anyway and waited for
hours. Many fainted in the heat, and police had to be brought in for crowd
control.
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- Around Houston, poor people who heard that the government
was giving out money tried to get into the Astrodome complex for cards,
prompting officials to lock the gates. By Thursday evening, electronic
freeway signs in Houston were flashing, "There are no debit cards
at the Astrodome."
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- FEMA issued 4,200 cards to families at the Astrodome
on Friday, and officials said they were confident they have covered everyone
still staying at the shelter.
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- Evacuees who were staying outside the main shelter and
expected to get cards on Saturday or Sunday must now apply for assistance
online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362.
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- FEMA officials were concerned that people showing up
at the Astrodome over the weekend might get angry when they are told they
will not receive cards. Tom Costello, FEMA liaison officer for the Houston
area, said FEMA workers will be on hand to help them get assistance via
other methods.
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- "The debit card is just the third of three ways
of getting the same amount of assistance," Costello said. "The
fastest or preferred way is through a bank account or by requesting a check.
This is not a reduction or a change in benefits."
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- Associated Press writers Pam Easton in Houston and Jim
Vertuna in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
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