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RESOURCES
Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce offers links and info. Kings Park Cares - Community Rallies to Send Relief to WTC Volunteers
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September 14, 2001 In a press conference held this morning, just hours before U.S. President George Bush was scheduled to tour the carnage in downtown Manhattan, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his top staffers blasted the media for releasing false information and put a halt to uncontrolled volunteering at Ground Zero. Saying that several false reports had been promoted on broadcast news as truths, Giuliani said such reports can do more harm than good and "the media must be more careful and check its facts before it releases anything." Reports of would-be hijackers being arrested at both John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports were grossly overstated said the officials. Since those reports first began to surface, allegedly all but one of the detainees have been cleared of any connection with the hijackers, they said. Fire officials added that reports of men being possibly found alive send their already worn out volunteers into a state of overdrive, desperately hoping to pull someone out of the rubble. When no such event is really occurring it is dangerous, not to mention demoralizing, they said. "Someone could get hurt very badly," said NYC Fire officials this morning. "They get very enthusiastic and start to work very hard. In that kind of situation they could make mistakes." Some of those potential mistakes have apparently also caused New York Fire officials to stop accepting volunteers at the disaster site. They only want to work with people that they know are trained according to their standards and know their chain of command. Without better controls, the situation is just too dangerous, they said. One report from a woman who said her husband, a Port Authority police officer, had just called her on a cell phone and said he was trapped with nine other men was revealed to be a liar just this morning. Officials said the shield number she allegedly gave as her husband's and some other information just didn't add up. "There was no husband, there were no other officers, there was nothing," said the officials. Yet the New York media outlets reported the information as fact which sent rescuers into a frenzy of dangerous activity that could have had horrifying results. In addition to the five story high pile of rubble and blazes that fire fighters are addressing, deteriorating weather conditions are further hampering rescue efforts. Rescuers are now working in groups of 12 for a few hours at a time. This technique supposedly to make sure everyone can be accounted for at shift changes. Officials also warned of scam artists and thieves trying to gain access to the downtown disaster area and its distraught population. A few accounts of break-ins have been reported as well as the presence of individuals posing as volunteers but having no actual authority to be in the activity zone. Bogus charities have also begun to spring up, according to officials, who recommended donations be made only to well known organizations or service groups you recognize and trust to forward your cash or merchandise to the appropriate place.
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Media Reined
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