FEMA hotel deadline extended again

Based on how the government's done with Katrina relief so far, Houstonist wasn't too surprised to read that FEMA will keep paying for Katrina evacuees' hotel bills past the Jan. 7 deadline while it works out bureaucratic and legal problems.

One issue: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which inherited the program from the American Red Cross, still does not have up-to-date records on the identities of evacuees in the hotel program or where they are staying, according to court papers filed last week by government lawyers.

Under a federal judge's ruling last month, FEMA is required to keep the hotel program running until Feb. 7. However, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval said FEMA could stop paying for hotel rooms beginning Jan. 7 — Saturday — for evacuees who have been approved or disapproved for other FEMA housing aid, such as a trailer or rental assistance.

Now, the Jan. 7 date no longer holds, according to a flier being distributed to hotels in the program. It says: "The program will continue for all evacuees in all states until further notice pending the resolution of certain issues now in litigation."

Seems there was confusion about Duval's statement — it was unclear whether it covered evacuees who haven't yet filed for FEMA assistance, and it was also unclear whether FEMA can require evacuees staying in hotels to register. In all the uncertainty, government lawyers said, some people eligible for the hotel program could be evicted.

FEMA, though, said it won't toss anyone out on the street and that it won't stop paying the hotel bills for any evacuees whose "eligibility for further assistance had not been determined." By mid-December, FEMA had spent $350 million on 41,000 hotel rooms across the country.