WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |FEMA still paying housing assistance to some Louisiana residents from hurricanes Katrina and Rita
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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Some of the guests at the Crestwood Suites Hotel, where an alleged meth lab exploded Wednesday morning, currently receive FEMA housing benefits.
Shockingly, some of those benefits go all the way back to Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana on August 29, 2005.
"They have kids here," said one resident. "They got people that really live here. It's a hotel that people stay at every night. They got people that actually live here, kids that ride the bus every morning from here."
FEMA reports 136 families are currently receiving federal assistance to use motels and hotels as housing due to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Typically, FEMA will only pay for 18 months of housing. For Katrina and Rita, that mission was extended an additional 18, for a total of 36 months.
However, even that deadline should have passed in August 2008. FEMA released a statement explaining the current housing situation. "Some experienced storm damages to their FEMA-provided temporary housing units. Others were previously located at commercial sites that closed and they still needed housing."
FEMA says everyone still living in hotels will not get any more federal funds come March 2nd.
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