Tricky choices in FEMA hotel program

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. officials say there are still some details to be worked out in the latest federal plan to compensate Gulf Coast hurricane evacuees for their hotel bills.

The loss of electricity appears to be a somewhat vague point in the Federal Emergency Management Agency program since the lack of utilities may not necessarily mean that a home is uninhabitable, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said that people whose homes were without power for extended periods will fall under either the older Temporary Housing Assistance or the Transition Sheltering Program developed after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Both FEMA programs are part of the Individual Assistance Program, which requires an inspection of the damaged home. The difference is that Transition Sheltering schedules the inspection after the evacuee has checked in a hotel while the Temporary Housing program requires the inspection to take place first.