Salvation Army Responds to Bridge Collapse

Salvation Army emergency disaster services personnel are bringing physical, emotional and spiritual aid to hundreds of survivors and relief workers following the I-35W bridge collapse yesterday evening in Minneapolis.

Four people perished in the collapse and the death toll is expected to climb. Scores of people were injured.

Three Salvation Army emergency disaster services vehicles (canteens) and 15 volunteers are on scene at the collapse. One vehicle is stationed on north side of the Mississippi River at 2nd ST SE and 8th Ave., and in the south at 1201 West River Rd. The third unit is at the recovery area of 354 East River Pkwy.

Salvation Army volunteers are providing food and water, donated by Cub Foods, for relief workers and survivors, and also offering spiritual and emotional care. The Salvation Army has so far served about 450 people.

Fargo Salvation Army Captain Adam Moore witnessed the collapse. He was about a half mile south of the bridge on Washington Ave., ready to head north on I-35W.

Once he realized what had happened, he immediately began coordinating Salvation Army disaster services efforts and offered spiritual care to people at the scene.

"This is why the Salvation Army exists," Moore says. "We help people make sense of tragedy and help them put the pieces back together."

The Salvation Army responds to calls for help from local law enforcement and becomes part of the Emergency Operation Center set up in times of disaster. Salvation Army emergency staff and volunteers are trained both in food service and Critical Incident Stress Management.

Monetary donations may be sent your local Salvation Army earmarked "Disaster Relief," made online or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

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Federal Auditors Uncover Millions in Katrina, Rita Fraud

U.S. government auditors have identified millions of wasteful and fraudulent dollars paid by FEMA for relief in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to respond to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two storms which laid waste to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.

In one case, FEMA provided free housing to 10 individuals in apartments in Plano, Texas, while at the same time it sent these individuals $46,000 to cover out-of-pocket housing expenses. In addition, several of these individuals certified to FEMA that they needed rental assistance, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

GAO is the nonpartisan watchdog agency of Congress.

FEMA made nearly $20 million in duplicate payments to thousands of individuals who claimed damages to the same property from both hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FEMA also made millions in potentially improper and/or fraudulent payments to nonqualified aliens who were not eligible for FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP).

For example, FEMA paid at least $3 million to more than 500 ineligible foreign students at four universities in the affected areas. This amount likely understates the total payments to ineligible foreign students because it does not cover all colleges and universities in the area. FEMA also provided potentially improper and/or fraudulent IHP assistance to other ineligible non-U.S. residents, despite having documentation indicating their ineligibility.

Finally, FEMA’s difficulties in identifying and collecting improper payments further emphasized the importance of implementing an effective fraud, waste, and abuse prevention system, GAO says. For example, GAO previously estimated improper and potentially fraudulent payments related to the IHP application process to be $1 billion through February 2006. As of November 2006, FEMA identified about $290 million in overpayments and collected about $7 million.

GAO recommends that DHS direct FEMA to take six actions, including establishing controls to prevent duplicate housing benefits to FEMA trailer and apartment residents and duplicate benefit payments for the same damages. GAO is also recommending that FEMA establish controls to prevent benefits to nonqualified aliens.

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