Washington – Homeless Hurricane Katrina victims face an Oct. 15 deadline to move out of shelters and into more stable housing as the government weighed Wednesday whether to continue paying for hotel rooms arranged by the Red Cross.
A little more than 68,200 hurricane refugees remain in shelters, down from a high of 250,000 after Katrina hit Aug. 29, said Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Natalie Rule. They face a midmonth deadline, set by President Bush, to move into apartments, trailers and, in some cases, hotels, as they look for permanent housing.
The Oct. 15 deadline is “for making sure that folks have all options before them and are on the way out of shelters,” Rule said. “We continue to work as fast a pace as possible in trying to transition them into a temporary housing situation.”
However, refugees who are unable to find housing can stay in shelters until they do, Rule said.
“We will not force someone out,” she said.
The deadline looms as FEMA considers extending a program set to expire Oct. 24 that reimburses the American Red Cross for the cost of hotel rooms for victims. So far, the Red Cross has spent $112 million on hotel rooms for 464,560 people since Sept. 3, said spokeswoman Carrie Martin.
Under an agreement dating to 1997, FEMA typically reimburses the Red Cross special-accommodations program when other housing isn’t quickly available for disaster victims, Rule said.
As of Wednesday, FEMA planned to let the reimbursement program expire Oct. 24.
“No decisions have been made if there will be a need to continue reimbursements beyond the 24th,” Rule said.
But Martin said the charity was unaware of any expiration date for the program, saying, “Our understanding is that it will continue until we are notified by FEMA.”
