HUD Relieves FEMA of Hurricane Housing Relief Efforts

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken over future administration FEMA's Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP), currently providing housing recovery assistance to some 30,000 families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and still living in trailers and private rental units.

HUD promises that families living in emergency housing will notice little if any change as a result of the transfer. Families need do nothing in order to transfer into the HUD-administered program.

"We are trying to make every effort to ease the concerns of these families and assure them there will be no break in payments," stated HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson in a press release.

HUD has established a toll free call center number, 1-866-373-9509, to answer questions about the transition. The call center will answer calls from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST weekdays, and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the weekends.

HUD to Start Phasing Out Katrina Trailers
As part of the transition, HUD announced it will begin working with FEMA in January 2008 to transition eligible families out of travel trailers and into rental housing in the private market.

Also See:
Katrina Incompetence Redux: FEMA Trailers (US Politics)
FEMA Lost Tens of Millions in Katrina Fraud, GAO Finds
FEMA Announces Two New Disaster Recovery Strategies