Gustav evacuees worry about money

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Some Louisiana residents evacuated to a Salvation Army facility in Arlington, Texas, are worrying about how to pay for food on the journey home.

Maria Bowie, 53, had just $26 at the end of the Labor Day weekend. She said she's not sure she has enough money to buy food for her two teenagers and 2-year-old grandson on the bus trip home, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.

Officials say evacuees from Hurricane Gustav running low on money can't get any help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency unless President George Bush authorizes it. "For that mechanism to be put in place, states that were affected have to request a presidential declaration," says FEMA spokesman Joshua Barnes. "Until that declaration happens, we can't provide assistance."

Raymond Decuir, 41, and girlfriend, Linda Eastman are worried about money once they return home to Louisiana.

"We are going to have to sacrifice, and whatever we got we are gonna have to make good," said Decuir.