Houston team looking at evacuees' homes

Mayor Bill White sent a team of city inspectors to New Orleans yesterday to find out if Katrina evacuees' homes are habitable. The move was prompted by letters FEMA sent evacuees saying the government will cut off long-term assistance, which means as many as 30,000 people could be kicked out of temporary housing in Houston in a few weeks. White said he wanted to find out if those people would have places to go in New Orleans:

"Many have reported that they've gone back and there's not utilities, there's no grocery store, the school is closed, the soil is contaminated," Mr. White said. "Many people want to return home. So we're just trying to get what the facts are."

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The mayor has said he knows assistance will have to end sometime. But he wants a smooth transition that doesn't contribute to homelessness in Houston.

"Goodness knows there shouldn't be some entitlement type program to shelter when people don't need it, but we can't have a situation in which people don't have a place to live," Mr. White said. "We want to prevent there being an increase in the homeless population."

The inspectors left Houston early yesterday morning and are expected to finish their visit today and give White a report tomorrow. The team is looking at between 50 and 60 evacuees' homes and will use its findings to verify or appeal the FEMA decision; preliminary reports are that 10 of the first 15 houses examined were found uninhabitable, while the other five were deemed "habitable with qualifications."