MAYOR BILL WHITE, FEMA SIGN AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE ON HURRICANE HOUSING PROGRAM, SECURITY COSTS
February 24, 2006 -- Mayor Bill White today announced that he has signed an agreement in principle with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to formalize the program housing thousands of hurricane evacuees in Houston and continue with reimbursement to the city for public safety costs associated with the increase in Houston's population in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"Our goal all along has been to help the nation respond to the crisis with efficiency and compassion for our fellow Americans," said Mayor White. "We've had confidence in our partnership with FEMA and this agreement will help us cement a higher level of certainty for people who are trying to rebuild their lives and for Houston taxpayers."
More than 150,000 hurricane evacuees currently reside in the Houston region, more than 90,000 of whom have been placed in more than 35,000 apartments through the Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force. The agreement signed this week reasserts FEMA's commitment to both the City and the evacuees they are being housed in apartments.
The agreement also lays out that FEMA, per the guidelines issued by FEMA in September, will continue reimbursing the City for eligible public safety expenditures through April 1, 2006, and will help identify additional federal assistance.
The City and FEMA will use the agreement in principle as the basis of a more detailed contract as the relief and recovery efforts continue.
This displacement of Americans is unprecedented," stated Mayor White. "So I anticipate there will be some 'back-and-forth' with FEMA every month. But this agreement represents progress."
