The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Nov. 15 that it was moving to get evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of hotel rooms and into permanent housing. The move by the agency to encourage evacuees to begin rebuilding their lives invited some criticism, especially from Gov . Rick Perry.

Nonetheless, another unresolved Texas-FEMA issue looms perhaps even larger: namely, how much the state will receive in reimbursements from the federal government. FEMA’s plan is to move all 51,000 people who are still living in hotel rooms into apartments, or in some cases, into homes. To do that, they’ve set a date – Dec. 1 – for the transition. Residents were notified of the decision through a letter slipped underneath their doors two weeks ago.

During a statewide conference call with reporters, FEMA defended the hurried nature of the change. “We need to help them develop long-term recovery plans,” said Sandy Coachman, the federal coordinating officer heading up the recovery effort in Texas . “We all knew the time would come when everybody needs to move out of shelters and hotels and into more permanent housing.”

The change will not end benefits for the evacuees. FEMA will still pay the costs of housing the evacuees in apartments. Those payments will end March 1.

The difference to the taxpayers is substantial. Apartment and hotel rates vary, but the latter are almost always higher. Currently, FEMA is paying for 20,414 rooms at an average cost of $70 a night, or $2,100 a month. The average apartment cost would be $777. At those costs, moving the evacuees into apartments would save taxpayers $27 million a month.

Don Jacks , FEMA’s Texas external affairs director, said FEMA wants to “put ourselves out of the hotel/motel business.” Jacks said FEMA would move aggressively to meet the deadline. Although the goal was to move all evacuees out by that time, he reiterated that those who don’t leave won’t be evicted. FEMA and local entities will provide assistance and meet with the evacuees to encourage them to comply. These “strike teams” will go from motel to motel to meet with residents and assess their needs. “We’re not kicking people out of hotels and motels,” Jacks said. “This is a transition.”

Evacuees who participate will move into apartments, with FEMA paying their rent and utilities until March. Since that period is shorter than most apartments’ minimum leases, evacuees can sign longer leases, and the state will pay the cost to break the lease when the term runs up.

FEMA will also provide some furniture to residents who are being lodged in apartments.

Perry said he didn’t like the agreement, because it doesn’t do anything to address needs beyond March. “We recognize and agree with FEMA’s decision to make personal responsibility a part of the hurricane recovery process,” he said. “However, my great concern is that there is still no long-term housing plan for the hundreds of thousands of Katrina victims who lost everything – including their homes – as a result of the storm, and come March 1, many of them may find themselves with no long-term housing options.”

Houston Mayor Bill White estimates that the number of hurricane evacuees housed in Houston hotels has dropped from 60,000 in September to 19,000 this week. White has issued a statement requesting an extension from FEMA on the deadlines. “We are dedicated to working closely with FEMA to let evacuees make choices about their lives, find jobs, and be treated with dignity and respect,” White said. “We have moved more evacuees out of hotels than any other city has ever had in hotels. So we encourage those new to it to ask us, not tell us, how to do it.

“We appreciate the payment this week by FEMA, and the attention of Senior Department and FEMA officials to Houston’s unique situation. We may be asking for extensions of these deadlines based on market conditions and commitments previously made by FEMA, and we feel confident that FEMA will review those requests on the merits.”

The Senate Finance Committee met in Beaumont Nov. 17 to discuss the hurricanes and their impact on the state budget. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst toured the Lamar University campus Nov. 16 to survey hurricane- inflicted damage .

The Beaumont Enterprise quotes Dewhurst as estimating state costs from the Hurricane at $1.4 billion. The Associated Press quotes state homeland security director Steve McCraw as estimating the cost to state and local governments combined at $2.7 billion. Much of these costs are likely to be reimbursed by the federal government.

Comments (0)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment