Katrina evacuees face expulsion from hotels
After several delays, FEMA to end payments for sheltering storm victims
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11205909/
(Gold9472: You know... this could be happening to any one of us right now. Think of it from that perspective.)
Updated: 8:14 p.m. ET Feb. 6, 2006
HOUSTON - Thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who have been staying in hotels at FEMA’s expense will be forced to leave or begin paying their own way Tuesday.
Hotel managers throughout coastal cities have posted notices and slipped leaflets under evacuees’ room doors informing them of the deadline, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency moves to shut down this facet of its massive temporary housing program for people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In the first group asked to leave are about 5,000 evacuees nationwide who did not contact the agency to apply for an extension, or were denied an extension.
“If they did not contact us or allow us to talk with them during our outreach efforts, we believe that they had a reason to do so,” said the head of FEMA’s transitional housing unit, Libby Turner.
Another 20,000 hotel rooms occupied by evacuees in more than 40 states face a departure date of Feb. 13 or March 1, depending on their circumstances.
FEMA has paid over $522 million for hotel and motel rooms as part of the more than $6 billion in financial and housing assistance to Katrina's victims. At their peak use, some 85,000 hotel rooms were occupied by people displaced by Katrina.
Extensions unlikely
This time, FEMA appeared set to press ahead with its plans to end the program, despite previous delays.
The agency originally had set a Dec. 1 deadline for ending the hotel program but extended it to Dec. 15 after widespread criticism.
Later, a judge pushed back a Jan. 7 deadline to check out of government-funded hotels by one month.
Attorneys filing a class-action lawsuit in November said adhering to that deadline would result in mass homelessness among storm victims.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled that victims must be given more time because FEMA could not guarantee processing of all the applications for other aid, including rental assistance or trailers, before the earlier deadline.
Later, FEMA announced that evacuees could apply for one- and three-week extensions for the program.
Fears of increase in homelessness
Even after all the delays, social service providers worry that a sudden rise in homelessness may still result.
Marilyn Fountain, a spokeswoman for the Star of Hope, a Houston homeless shelter, said the shelter anticipates an influx of people needing a place to stay.
Turner said FEMA is teaming up with health, social services and volunteer agencies to help victims find new homes or rebuild and get their lives back on track.
“Folks are trying to move on with their lives after a catastrophic disaster, and some are having more difficulty than others in doing that,” Turner said.
The Associated Press and MSNBC.com's Kari Huus contributed to this report.
Reply With Quote