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(Lincoln, NE) Federal emergency management officials have asked Gov. Dave Heineman and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to encourage Nebraskans who want to help hurricane victims in the southern U.S. to follow some basic guidelines set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Federal officials are urging people to make cash donations rather than sending items or attempting to enter the storm-damaged region. Shipping is difficult, if not impossible, under current conditions, and officials say volunteers should avoid entering the affected areas unless told to do so by an established service agency rendering aid.
“As Nebraskans, I know we have a strong urge to help our friends and neighbors,” Gov. Heineman said. “I simply want to make sure we offer the assistance people can distribute and manage at the times when that assistance can be most effective.”
Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said, “Self-dispatched volunteers, and especially sightseers, can put themselves and others in harm’s way and hamper rescue efforts.”
For more information on how to help storm victims, visit FEMA’s Web site at http://www.fema.gov/news/ and click the Aug. 29 link entitled “Cash Sought to Help Hurricane Victims; Volunteers Should Not Self-Dispatch.”
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