Judge Allows Government to Stop Paying Hotel Bills for 12,000 Evacuees

A Judge ruled today that FEMA can drop 12,000 people made homeless due to Hurricane Katrina from a program that pays for their hotel bills. Evacuees can still receive federal funds if they use it towards rebuilding their homes or hotel stays but the agency will no longer pay the hotels directly.

While I recognize that the government should not be paying for hotel bills for these evacuees indefinitely, FEMA should have done more to ensure that the thousands of evacuees have the resources to get their lives back together. Evacuees must now fill out a tedious application in order to get reimbursed for hotel funds. FEMA should continue payments until they can ensure that these people are properly taken care of.