Red Cross calls for 40,000 volunteers
'We're not going to be able to fix this overnight'
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- The American Red Cross put out an urgent call Saturday for 40,000 new volunteers to help feed, house and comfort Hurricane Katrina victims.
"This is a disaster of such scope and such significance, it's not going to go away in a few weeks or a few months," Red Cross spokesman John Degnan said.
"We're putting out an appeal to people to step forward and volunteer so they can be trained."
It was the largest recruitment drive in the organization's 125-year history.
Degnan said such an extraordinary response is needed for "a disaster unprecedented in its impact and scope in the United States."
He added, "We're not going to be able to fix this overnight. We're going to need a long time and a lot of people."
The first shift of 10,000 recruits will be needed in two weeks to relieve 36,000 volunteers now deployed, he said.
More than 160,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors are staying at 675 shelters in 23 states, he said.
Also Saturday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency worked to get the word out to hurricane victims that a program offering them debit cards worth between $350 and $2,000 is quickly coming to an end.
The cards were "in short supply," FEMA spokesman Tom Costello said Friday night.
FEMA said evacuees may instead receive $2,000 through direct deposits to their banks or through mailed checks. Families could apply online at www.fema.gov or over the phone at (800)-621-FEMA.
The debit card program was a pilot project designed to help evacuees get some money quickly, explained FEMA spokesman Michael Widomski in Washington. But for logistical reasons, direct deposits and checks were preferable, he said.
As of Saturday morning, FEMA had given out more than $650 million in expedited assistance, said Widomski. A little more than $13 million was via debit cards.
Debit cards will continue to be distributed to people at Texas' major evacuation shelters in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
People who have found accommodations are not eligible for them, however.
Electronic signs throughout the three cities urged people not to show up at the evacuation centers to get the debit cards.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross began distributing debit cards Saturday morning at the St. Agnes Church in Houston, instead of at the Reliant Center, said spokesman Gregory Smith.
FEMA has come under fire for its handling of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath under the leadership of Michael Brown. On Friday, Brown was sent back to Washington and Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen replaced him as the top official in charge of the federal relief effort. (Full story)
Draining may done sooner
New Orleans could be drained of the toxic, fetid floodwaters in about three weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. It estimates that the outlying areas of Plaquemines could be drained by October 18.
Drier weather, favorable winds increased pumping capacity and the use of drainage breaches are credited for speeding the progress, the Army Corps said.
It had been estimated the work could take 80 days. But the Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday parts of New Orleans could be drained by October 2, with the eastern section of the city dry by October 8. Chalmette also could be drained by October 8.
Other developments
The federal government Saturday abandoned its effort to prevent the media from reporting on the recovery of bodies in New Orleans after a lawsuit by CNN. (Full story)
Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts. (Full story)
Vice President Dick Cheney visited evacuees in Texas on Saturday. He said Texas has taken in more evacuees than any other state. "A number have said that they really like Austin, and my guess is some may want to stay," Cheney said. His visit comes a day before President Bush travels to the Gulf region. He'll do so after marking the fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with observances in Washington.
New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass said Saturday an initial street-by-street sweep of the city revealed far fewer corpses than feared, The Associated Press reported. State officials have not released an exact count of the dead so far, but Mayor Ray Nagin had suggested the death toll could reach into the thousands.
Compass also rejected on Friday what he called "vicious rumors" that bodies of children were found in one of the gathering points for evacuees. "We have swept the entire convention center," he said, and no children were found dead. Also, he said, there were "no confirmed reports of any type of sexual assault." (Watch one doctor recount his convention center experience -- 3:39)
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting firm has been hired by Entergy New Orleans, which provides power to most of the city, the utility company said Friday.
Hurricane victims who receive Social Security benefits can go to any permanent or temporary location and receive an on-the-spot payment, Social Security Administrator Jo Anne Barnhart said Friday. So far, 25,000 checks have been issued, she said. There are more than 780,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who receive Social Security benefits or supplemental payments.
CNN's Mike Ahlers, Dana Bash, Ed Lavandera and Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report.
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