- WASHINGTON -- Trying to meet
President Bush's mid-October deadline to clear out shelters, the federal
government has moved hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees
into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night, a strategy that
local officials and some members of Congress criticize as incoherent and
wasteful.
-
- The number of people in hotels has grown by 60 percent
in the last two weeks, nearing 600,000 Tuesday. Still, relief officials
say they can't meet the deadline, with more than 22,000 people still in
shelters in 14 states.
-
- The reliance on hotels has been necessary, housing advocates
say, because the Federal Emergency Management Agency has had problems installing
mobile homes and trailers for evacuees, and has been slow to place victims
in apartments.
-
- Hotel costs are expected to grow to as much as $425 million
by Oct. 24.
-
- A FEMA spokeswoman said the federal government is moving
as quickly as it can to find temporary housing.
-
- http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-051
0130133oct13,1,217245.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
|
