The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extended its relocation assistance program to March 1, 2009. To date, 8,889 families have been helped with more than $15.7 million for moving and transportation costs incurred as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“With recovery well underway across the Gulf Coast , many of the more than 1.2 million families forced from their homes following hurricanes Katrina and Rita are ready to come home,” said Acting Associate Deputy Administrator for FEMA’s Gulf Coast Recovery Office Jim Stark. “We are pleased to provide this extension and urge families who haven’t taken advantage of the relocation program to apply.”
Applicants displaced from their primary residence in a disaster-declared area as a result of hurricane Katrina or Rita are eligible for reimbursement of up to $4,000 in relocation expenses incurred between Aug. 29, 2005 and March 1, 2009. Relocation expenses may not exceed the FEMA Individuals and Households Program (IHP) cap of $26,200, and the applicant must not have received funds from any other state, federal or voluntary agency subsidized travel home program.
If an applicant is returning to Louisiana , he or she must relocate to housing that is not provided by FEMA and is not a hotel or motel. For those families that are already living in Louisiana in FEMA travel trailers or mobile homes, FEMA will pay moving expenses to a FEMA-funded rental resource anywhere in the continental United States .
Relocation Assistance will be limited to travel costs including airfare, train, bus and/or a rental vehicle. Furniture transportation expenses also are eligible, including commercially rented equipment for hauling and commercially purchased moving materials or moving services. Evidence of expenses, such as receipts, must be provided for reimbursement. Mileage, gas and other travel-related expenses such as food incurred while using a privately owned vehicle are not eligible costs. Moving costs for recreational or large luxury items such as boats or recreational vehicles are not eligible expenses under this program either.
For more information on FEMA’s Relocation Assistance program or to request reimbursement of relocation expenses, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) (TTY: 1-800-462-7585). To prevent duplication of benefits, an applicant is only eligible to receive relocation assistance under either Hurricane Katrina (DR-1603-LA) or Hurricane Rita (DR-1607-LA), not both.