FEMA to cover hotels for those with damaged homes

From Sun news services

September 5, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - A Federal Emergency Management Agency official says Hurricane Gustav evacuees whose homes remain uninhabitable can have their hotel costs paid by FEMA.

David Garratt, a deputy assistant administrator for the agency, said last night that the aid won't be available for short-term evacuees who fled the storm, spent a few nights in a hotel and then returned home.

Rather FEMA's program pays for "extended stays" in hotels for people who can't return to their homes because of power outages, damage or for other reasons related to the storm.

Officials clarified the agency's policies after criticism from some evacuees who said they would have preferred to stay in hotels paid for by FEMA rather than in public shelters.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said FEMA would pay hotel costs "to make sure that people don't feel economic pressure to return home prematurely, before it's safe." He said FEMA would pay hotels directly, so it was unclear whether those who had already paid for rooms and checked out would be eligible for reimbursement.

A Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman said yesterday that the agency had received a handful of calls in recent days from evacuees asking for gas money to return home. The state is referring those people to FEMA and the Red Cross.

Evacuees continued to stream back to New Orleans yesterday after the hurricane scare that left the city with little serious damage but knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes.

Restaurants began to pull off plywood boards installed for Gustav, and the few cafes opened were filled with people. There were long lines at the handful of grocery stores that had opened, and traffic once again flowed in the downtown streets.

Power remained out in 62,000 homes, down from a peak of 107,000, and the loud hum of generators filled some neighborhoods. But energy company executives, under pressure from Gov. Bobby Jindal and hot and weary citizens, promised a speeding-up of repairs.

Mayor Ray Nagin said "90 to 95 percent" of residents would see their power turned back on by the weekend.