FEMA: The next deadlines are absolute! — maybe

So it's been nearly a year since tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents were displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and through a variety of deadline extensions, several thousand of them are still relying on federal housing aid. But not for that much longer — maybe — because FEMA said the next housing deadlines won't be pushed back — perhaps.

Mayor Bill White urged evacuees to meet the coming deadlines: Aug. 31 for about 4,000 evacuees no longer eligible for federal aid and Oct. 31 for about 16,000 families who need to recertify with FEMA. "We all know it will not be forever. It's not an entitlement," White told the AP. "Those who are able-bodied are expected to work, those people who do have plans to return home need to take personal responsibility." And though FEMA spokesman Don Jacks agreed with White, saying "families need to step up and take some responsibility," he wasn't so firm when he discussed whether the deadlines would be extended again:

"This is new territory for FEMA," he said. "We've never been faced with this large a population unable to go home. We realize that the demands being placed on these families are extremely difficult. If we are to err, we will err on the side of understanding and compassion. We will move the deadline."

For people who need to recertify, the process could help them get aid because there was confusion with addresses of some family members who were separated. "They were denied eligibility because [FEMA] said, 'You have received relief, because you're in the same household,"' U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said. "This is what we hope will give people the opportunity who have been denied. Now, you can recertify as an individual household."

Evacuees who recertify by Oct. 31 will receive aid through the end of February. Anyone want to place a bet on the likelihood of extended deadlines?