Mayor White’s office has announced that FEMA has agreed in principle to continue paying for housing and public safety costs related to Hurricane Katrina evacuees:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had threatened in November to halt housing voucher reimbursements on March 1, has now formally agreed to continue the reimbursements for a year, White spokesman Frank Michel said.
Michel said the latest figures show the city has paid rent for more than 90,000 evacuees placed in apartments throughout the area. The estimated final cost will be about $300 million, he said.
The city had also asked FEMA for $6.5 million to offset the costs of providing police service associated with the influx of new residents who fled Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina.
White wants to use the money to establish a task force focusing on “hot spots” for violent crime, which has increased recently.
Michel said FEMA had agreed to reimburse the city for police officers’ overtime pay related to the evacuees. City officials are compiling the necessary documentation, he said.
