New Orleans — Victims of Hurricane Gustav who can’t return to their homes over the next month because of storm damage or power outages can have their hotel costs covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials said Thursday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday that some evacuees’ hotel bills would be paid by FEMA, but it had been unclear whether that applied to those who fled for a few days, spent a few nights in a hotel and then returned home.
Officials held a telephone news conference to clarify who was eligible for the funding: Only those whose homes were rendered “uninhabitable” by the storm will have extended-stay hotel costs covered for a period that began Wednesday and ends Oct. 3.
“If an inspector goes out to their home during that period of time and determines that their home is in fact habitable, then we can terminate assistance for them prior to that 30-day period,” Deputy Assistant Administrator David Garratt said.
Having no power qualifies a home as being uninhabitable, but as soon as the power comes back on, eligibility for aid ends, he said. Broken windows also could make a home uninhabitable but the aid would end once they are repaired. Aid would also cover homes in areas authorities have kept off limits because of lack of power or safety concerns.
It was unclear how much the program would cost or how many of the estimated 2 million people who fled the storm would be covered. Residents began returning to the stricken area as early as Tuesday, the day after the storm.
Steady streams of inbound traffic were reported Wednesday and Thursday despite remaining widespread power outages in many areas and warnings that some areas lacked medical care, gasoline ice and groceries.
Garratt said the hotel funding plan was a pilot program that will be fine-tuned and evaluated in case it is needed as other storms — such as Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike — threaten the U.S. Coast.
He stressed that individuals seeking aid would have to register with FEMA by phone or online and that their identification and dwelling addresses would have to be verified. He said the program was “an outgrowth of one of the lessons we learned from Hurricane Katrina” in 2005.
“At the front end of Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross put an awful lot of folks in shelters at our request, but there was no identity verification capability at that time. As a result, we had a lot of folks in shelters who were legitimate evacuees as well as a lot of shelter residents who were not,” Garratt said.
Garratt did not address whether gasoline costs or other costs of evacuating might be covered by FEMA aid.
A Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman said Thursday 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.
Some evacuees also wondered whether FEMA would cover their lost wages and other expenses after they returned to New Orleans. The FEMA Web site says there are programs available to aid those who temporarily lose their jobs because of the storm.
On the Net:
www.fema.gov.
Local News
FEMA to cover hotel costs for some Gustav evacuees
- Local News
-
-
PAINTING HYDRANTS
Firefighters with Picayune Fire Department conduct regular maintenance on the city’s many fire hydrants, such as giving them a fresh coat of paint.
-
Two charged with making meth around kids
Two parents were arrested for allegedly making and possessing methamphetamine, while their children were in the home.
-
Unemployment rate down slightly
Pearl River County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly between March and April of this year.
-
PMHS GRADUATION
Picayune Memorial High School held its graduation ceremony Thursday night where the school’s valedictorian Jared Christopher Bates, left, and salutatorian Bryce Austin Warden gave their speeches.
-
POPLARVILLE GRADUATION
Poplarville High School held its graduation ceremony Thursday night where the school’s valedictorian Rebecca Starke, left, and salutatorian Meagan Whitworth gave their speeches to the graduating class, parents and friends.
-
Local man paralyzed by juvenile shooting
Medical personnel were teaching a local man how to swallow again on Saturday after his spinal cord was severed by a .22 caliber bullet, fired by one of three juveniles, on Thursday.
-
Potential bridge replacement fund shortage draws discussion
Despite a lengthy agenda for Pearl River County supervisors Wednesday the board handled many of the items with a straight up and down 5-0 vote.
-
Glade Woods dies
Funeral services for Earl Glade Woods , 75 of Picayune, are Monday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Picayune. Woods passed away on Friday.
-
MHP on patrol for holiday
Even though there has been a remarkable reduction in the number of fatalities in Mississippi over the past seven years, last year’s Memorial Day Weekend was particularly deadly.
-
POLICE MEMORIAL
City employees were out at the Picayune Police Department memorial Thursday morning doing some upgrades to it.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
