Last Weekend For Evacuees To Request FEMA Hotel Code 

Release Date: January 27, 2006
Release Number: 3229-028

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LITTLE ROCK , Ark.-- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is continuing its aggressive outreach to encourage all Hurricane Katrina and Rita evacuees still living in hotels and motels paid for by FEMA to obtain an authorization code by the January 30, 2006 deadline. Additional FEMA operators will be available over the final weekend before the deadline, and lines will continue to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Multilingual operators are also available to take calls.

"Its very important that evacuees do not wait any longer to call for the authorization code to extend their stay," said R. David Paulison, acting FEMA director. "We need everyone still staying in a hotel or motel room to make this call today so that we can help them take the next steps towards their family's recovery."

Evacuees in hotels and motels must contact FEMA by January 30, 2006, at 1-800-621-FEMA (for the TTY caller, 1-800-462-7585 ) to receive a unique authorization code that must be presented to a hotel or motel to extend the federal subsidy for their hotel stay beyond February 7, 2006. The code is also required for evacuees who change hotels or are checking in for the first time. Nearly 16,000 applicants had already received codes from FEMA as of midnight January 26 th , representing 60% of the current hotel population of approximately 27,000 rooms.

The February 7 extension and authorization code requirement of January 30 are consistent with a Court Order issued earlier this month. There will be no further extensions in the FEMA hotel/motel subsidy program.

The FEMA authorization code program has a few, simple important dates:

If evacuees have not received an eligibility decision on temporary housing assistance by Jan. 30, 2006, FEMA will continue to pay for that hotel room through March 1, 2006, or two weeks after receiving eligibility determination, whichever is later. In every case, FEMA will fund the hotel or motel room for evacuees for two weeks after they have received a determination on their request for assistance from FEMA. Evacuees DO NOT need to complete a Small Business Administration loan application to be eligible for FEMA housing assistance.

The authorization code allows FEMA to work closely with individuals and families displaced by the hurricanes to ensure they are registered with FEMA for assistance and to ensure they are fully processed for rental assistance eligibility before making the transition to longer-term housing. In addition, the authorization code process will help FEMA make referrals to other assistance sources if individuals are not eligible for FEMA programs and will aid in identifying individuals who may be attempting to exploit the program.

FEMA initiated an extensive outreach effort to help people understand program end dates and access other forms of assistance to help them with longer term housing solutions. In addition to the community relations teams that have been fanning out and canvassing hotels in an effort to reach those still residing in hotels and motels, flyers and notices have been placed in every room occupied by hurricane evacuees on five occasions since January 9 th announcement that the program would be coming to an end. Ads have also been placed in newspapers across the country, including publications targeting multilingual and multiethnic populations.

FEMA has so far provided housing assistance to more than 750,000 families affected by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Although most evacuees nationwide are already situated in apartments, trailers or other types of longer-term housing, fewer than 27,000 families still remain in hotels and motels nationwide. More than $400 million has been spent by FEMA to provide hotel and motel rooms rent free to evacuated individuals and families for nearly four months.

To see the most recent FEMA state-by-state data on hotel rooms participating in the FEMA hotel/motel direct bill program, go to www.fema.gov/katrina .

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program.  FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Thursday, 09-Mar-2006 13:27:00