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Katrina Evacuees who lost FEMA housing assistance have one more chance to see if they qualify for rental help. Houston Public Radio’s Capella Tucker reports.
A federal judge ruled that FEMA must notify Katrina evacuees about why their housing assistance was cut off. About 3,000 letters were sent out. Houston Housing Task Force Spokesperson Cindy Gabriel says evacuees were told one of about two different reasons. A workshop is being held tomorrow for evacuees who received these notices from FEMA to see if they can appeal the decision.
“We really don’t know if FEMA will grant. We really don’t know how many people will find this effective. We have robot-called; we have called over 4,000 phone numbers that FEMA gave us. But again some of these people have moved. These were original phone numbers.”
Gabriel says they’ve been successful reaching about half the people on the list. She says FEMA may deny the appeals or evacuees could be eligible for partial refunds if their housing was cut off prematurely. The workshop is being held at the George R Brown convention Center tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Capella Tucker, Houston Public Radio News.