The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 6

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 FEMA chief resigns; replacement named The Index-Journal, Greenwood, SC. Road to resignation for FEMA chief The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael D. Brown, harshly criticized for the response to Hurricane Katrina, announced his resignation on Monday Role at 2001 Served 2002 January 2003 Nominated by President Bush for FEMA as 9eneral Deputy under secretary position within Department of counsel director Homeland Security, making him FEMA chief Events IIMItlMfmitllHIMtHIHIM ItlfHItlMllMlfUUHHtMH WASHINGTON (AP) Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown resigned Monday, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. The White House picked a top FEMA official with three decades of firefighting experience as his replacement. R.

David Paulison. leader of FEMA's emergency preparedness force, will lead the beleaguered agency, according to three administration sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. Paulison is a career firefighter from Miami who was among emergency workers responding to Hurricane Andrew in 1 992 Brown has denied. The president ducked questions about Brown's resignation. "Maybe you know something 1 don't know.

I've been working," the president said to reporters on an inspection tour of damage in Gulfport, Miss. Bush said he planned to talk with Brown's boss. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, from Air Force One on the flight back to Washington. "There will be plenty of time to figure out what went right and what went wrong," Bush said. Polls show most Americans think Bush could have done more to help Katrina's Victims, though they also blame leaders of Louisiana and New Orleans.

Brown had taken much of the heat and was relieved of his onsite command on Friday. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Brown said he resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president." He said he feared he had become a distraction. "The focus has got to be on FEMA, what the people are trying to do down there," Brown said. His decision was not a surprise. Brown was abruptly recalled to Washington on Friday, a clear vote of no confidence from his superiors at the White House and the Homeland Security Department.

He also was accused of padding his resume, which Sept. 9 Relieved of onsite command of hurricane relief efforts Aug. 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall; Bush declared disaster emergency for Louisiana and Mississippi Sept. 12 Announced resignation in ap Paulison will lead an agency that has been under fire for its response to the Katrina disaster. Local officials and members of Congress have cited confusion and a lagging response to the Gulf Coast devastation.

and the crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades in 1996, according to a biography posted on FEMA's Web site. He also has led the U.S. Fire Administration since December 2001, according to the site. As chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, Paulison led 1,900 personnel under a $200 million operating budget. He was also in charge of Dade County's emergency management office, according to his biography.

Gov. Sanford requests voluntary evacuation as Ophelia approaches rHvh iff 1 fff iSV'-XV In Horry County, the evacuation included all areas east of Kings Highway in the southern Grand Strand and east of U.S. Highway 1 7 in the northern Grand Strand. In Georgetown County, the evacuation included all areas east of U.S. 17 in the northern portion of the county.

The evacuation included all mobile homes and areas prone to flooding throughout both counties. MYRTLE BEACH (AP) Gov. Mark Sanford called for a voluntary evacuation Monday afternoon for parts of Horry and Georgetown counties in the northeast corner of the state even as Hurricane Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical storm. The evacuation affected people on barrier islands, oceanfront property, property in low-lying areas and property along rivers and streams. Agencies warn of frauds connected to aid efforts AP photo Marines from Mexico perform cleanup work as Gulfport tour the 28th Street Elementary School in Gulfport, with Mayor Brent Warr, third from left, Mississippi Gov.

Haley Bar- President Bush, bour, right, and Congressman Gene Taylor, third from right, President denies racial component to relief effort during tour of damage The Salvation Army and the United Way are reporting frauds that have started in connection with the nation's outpouring of aid to the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. A fraudulent e-mail is being circulated via the Internet soliciting funds for The Salvation Army. The e-mail is from This is not a valid Salvation Army e-mail address. The e-mail suggests it is from The Salvation Army's National Headquarters and instructs donors to give donations through money transfer, mail or credit card. The address for money transfer or mail is to a Joseph Bonn in Palmbay, Fla.

Joseph Bonn is not associated with The Salvation Army, a statement from The Salvation Army said. The solicitation also instructs donors to reply to the e-mail with their credit card mformation. The Salvation Army never asks for credit card information to be sent to the organization via e-mail, the statement said. No one should donate funds through any of the methods suggested in the fraudulent is e-mail, the statement. The correct way to make a credit card donation is through The Salvation Army's secure Web site www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling (800) SAL-ARMY.

Donations by mail should be addressed to the local Salvation Army office or to The Salvation Army, Texas Division, PO Box 36607, Dallas, Texas 75235. If anyone questions an e-mail received, they can call their local Salvation Army or (800) 253-1 868 According to a statement from the United Way, some donation Web sites that have sprouted in Katrina wake are reported to be fraudulent or suspicious including katrinahelp.com, and katrinarelief.com. Online users also should exercise caution when opening e-mail messages regarding Hurricane Katrina, the United Way said. Some messages might contain viruses, "worms" or other malicious applications. NEW ORLEANS (AP) President Bush, ducking low-hanging tree limbs and electrical wires, rode in an open truck Monday for his first close-up kxk at New Orleans' ravaged, trash-strewn, flooded neighborhoods.

He denied that poor, black victims of Hurricane Katrina were ignored because of their race. Bush replied testily to a reporter who asked whether he felt let down by federal officials in responding to the disaster. "Look, there will be plenty of time to play the blame game," he said. "That's what you're trying to do. You're trying to say somebody is at fault.

And, look, I want to know. I want to know exactly what went on and how it went Louisiana's water treatment plants were back in operation. "My impression of New Orleans is this: that there is a recovery on the way." Bush said in the shadow of a freeway overpass, destroyed cars littering the landscape behind him and rescue choppers occasionally drowning out his words. Polls show broad dissatisfaction with Bush's handling of the hurricane and his job approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency. This was his third and longest trip here since Katrina pulverized Gulf Coast communities and submerged most of New Orleans two weeks earlier.

on, and we'll continually assess inside my administration." Bush spend the night here on the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and toured the city for 45 minutes. The president's convoy moved slowly through just-drained neighborhoods caked with black mud and through streets where the water line reached well into the trucks' tire wells or lapped at curbs. At times, the stench was overwhelming. Bush seized on the news of falling water levels throughout New Orleans and pronounced the city on the mend. Business owners were issued passes to retrieve records and equipment, and more than half of southeastern agencies offering help s.C.

caring for thousands who fled Gulf Coast VA Southeast Network assists with recovery By The Associated Press considering adjusting high tariffs imposed on such items as lumber from Canada and cement from Mexico if building needs from Hurricane Katrina cause prices to spike. Treasury Department spokesman Tony Fratto said that the administration has the executive authority to adjust the tariffs to meet special needs. Evacuees in Greenville relax with music, block party GREENVILLE It was far from the Big Easy, but a jazz brunch on Main Street with spicy etouffee, red beans and rice and even a few Mardi Gras beads eased the frustrations for some Hurricane Katnna evacuees here. Across town at a shelter Sunday, a block party with gospel music, prayer and children's activities helped other evacuees take their minds off the past two weeks. Greenville is one of several cities in South Carolina playing host to evacuees displaced by the devastating storm.

About 200 people were at the shelter here. Roughly 1,900 others are scattered in hotels throughout the state. Spellings: 372,000 students displaced by Katrina WASHINGTON Hurricane Katrina has forced at least 372,000 school children to flee the Gulf Coast, and there are no clear answers yet on where the money will come from to educate these students, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Spellings gave the most sweeping assessment of how the hurricane has affected the education community just as a new school year begins. In Louisiana, more than 247,000 public and private school students have been displaced, 489 schools have been closed and at least six parishes have destroyed or damaged buildings.

In Mississippi, more than 125,000 students have been forced elsewhere. A total of 226 schools in 30 districts are closed in that state, and almost 30 schools have been destroyed. Katrina spurs new debate on energy, fuel economy WASHINGTON Hurricane Katrina has reopened a national debate on energy policy, generating new congressional support for more stringent automobile fuel economy requirements and a fresh push by the oil industry for drilling in areas now off-limits. More than a month after President Bush signed into law a massive energy bill, lawmakers are talking about the need for a second one. If it emerges from Congress, it will carry the stamp of Katrina and the vulnerabilities the storm exposed to the nation's energy system.

COLUMBIA The number of evacuees who have fled the Gulf Coast for South Carolina continues to grow, with the Red Cross handling more than 2.000 cases, officials said Monday. "It's rising. We still have people who've just arrived over the weekend," said Scott Salemme. the spokesman for the Red Cross in the Midlands. Salemme said 2,096 cases have been registered with the relief agency in the state and that each case could be an individual or an entire family.

Building needs might trigger cuts in some import tariffs WASHINGTON The Bush administration said Monday that it is ATLANTA VA Southeast Network has established a toll-free number to assist Gulf Coast veterans and their families, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs employees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina People needing assistance can call the VA Hurricane Assistance Center anytime at (800) 956-0787. Veterans Affairs is reaching out to victims by providing referrals for health care, shelter and other person needs to veterans, employees and their families. Employees at VA facilities also are pitching in to help Katrina victims by collecting donations for disaster area veterans. Patients are being evacuated from the New Orleans VA Medical Center to Houston. Jackson.

Shreveport and Alexandria medical centers. Several patients on ventilators are at LSU in Baton Rouge. The Gulfport VA Medical Center is closed, while the Biloxi VA Medical Center is open and being re-supplied to remain operational. S.C. Department of Insurance offers aid COLUMBIA Residents of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and are taking shelter in South Carolina can call the S.C.

Department of Insurance for assistance with their insurance questions, said Eleanor Kitzman, Director of Insurance. The department's toll free number is (800) 768-3467. The local telephone number is (803) 737-6189 and the e-mail address is CnsmMaildoi.state.sc. us. "Department staff will assist consumers in contacting their insurance companies to initiate the claims process." Kitzman said.

"The more quickly these discussions take place the sooner evacuees will be able to file claims, receive assistance for living expenses and begin to recover from this devastating storm." S.C. Methodist conference seeks volunteers The South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church is recruiting volunteers to help with Katnna clean up efforts. Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor said. Anyone interested in volunteering must attend a mandatory training session from 10 a.m. -4 p.m.' Saturday at College Place United Methodist Church in Columbia.

Each team of volunteers will need to be self-sustaining. A complete list of all items needed by the teams is posted at http:umcsc.netdisasterresponsevolunteer.php. For information on how you can help victims of Hurricane Katrina, visit vmw.indexjournal.comKatrinahelp.html A KATRINA RELIEF The Index-Journal is teaming with the Greenwood office of The Salvation Army to collect funds on the Army's behalf. General disaster relief donations are being collected at The IndexJoomal. Checks should be made payable to The Salvation Army.

On the "memo line of the check, write "Katnna Refcef Cash donations wi also be accepted, and donors will receive a receipt for tax purposes. Donations may be dropped off at the front offices of The Index-Journal. Donations can also be matted to the newspaper. Office hours are 8 am. Monday through Friday If mailing, designate Katnna ReM on the envelope, co The Index -Joumad, PO.

Box 1018, Greenwood, SC 29648. Your donations to dato: $17,945.71 Contributed photo Bracelets for relief To volunteer or for information, call (888) 678-6272 or in Columbia at (803) 786-9486. Collection sites for equipment, food and supplies have been established at the S.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church headquarters at 4908 Colonial Columbia and Hibben United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant.

These sites will be open until Monday. East End Elementary School students in Jerri Lynn Rowling's second-grade class are making friendship bracelets and selling them for 50 cents. Proceeds from this class and other school projects will go toward the school's Katrina Relief Eund..