Evacuees worry aid will end despite FEMA's assurances

ATLANTA — Every few weeks, Ralonda Cain fears that she and her year-old daughter, having made it through the hurricane that swamped their New Orleans home, will be homeless.

Cain is among the thousands of storm evacuees living in hotel rooms in Georgia, with the federal government paying the bill. Every two weeks or so, the evacuees have received an extension of their stay. But the more time that passes, the more they worry that they'll be told the program is over — that they have to leave.

"I'd have no place to go," said Cain, 26, who is staying at a Comfort in Atlanta, along with about 300 other evacuees. "We have a place to stay. We have food. The only worry is how long it will last."

Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that she shouldn't worry, that none of the evacuees will be put out in the cold. The program has been extended indefinitely, they say, and plans are in the works to help move evacuees from hotels into apartments.

But how that will happen remains unclear. The federal government is looking to Georgia's state government. The state is looking to its cities and counties, but few have signed on to help.

The lack of clear answers troubles the hotel residents. "It's really frustrating," Cain said. "With no answers, you don't know which way to go."

FEMA says it has made good progress in helping the evacuees. Since Hurricane Katrina, the agency has received roughly 46,000 applications for FEMA assistance in Georgia and has dispersed $112 million. Most of the evacuees received an initial stipend of $2,000, said Paul Fay, FEMA's regional division director of response and recovery.

Having moved the evacuees from makeshift shelters into hotel rooms, federal officials are working with state and local officials on a plan to place them in apartments and, if needed, assist them there financially.

"They're not going to kick people out and put them on the street," Fay said. But he added, "The goal is to get them out as soon as possible. If we do that by Thanksgiving, that's great."

FEMA has given much of the responsibility of moving people into apartments to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. GEMA, which is coordinating many relief efforts, is working with counties and cities to move people into apartments and other rental housing.

The resettlement plan counts on participating local governments to work with the evacuees to find housing. In some cases, the local governments would pay rents and be reimbursed by the federal government, Fay said.