$11 Million a Day Spent on Hotels for Storm Relief

[rodeodance]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/national/nationalspecial/13housing.html?th&emc=th

October 13, 2005
Housing
$11 Million a Day Spent on Hotels for Storm Relief
By ERIC LIPTON

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Straining to meet President Bush's mid-October deadline to clear out shelters, the federal government has moved hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night, a strategy local officials and some members of Congress criticize as incoherent and wasteful.

The number of people in hotels has grown by 60 percent in the past two weeks as some shelters closed, reaching nearly 600,000 as of Tuesday. Even so, relief officials say they cannot meet the deadline, as more than 22,000 people were still in shelters in 14 states on Wednesday.

The reliance on hotels has been necessary, housing advocates say, because the Federal Emergency and Management Agency has had problems installing mobile homes and travel trailers for evacuees and has been slow to place victims in apartments that real estate executives say are available throughout the southeast.

Hotel costs are expected to grow to as much as $425 million by Oct. 24, a large expense never anticipated by the FEMA, which is footing the bill. While the agency cannot say how that number will affect overall spending for storm relief, critics point out that hotel rooms, at an average cost of $59 a night, are significantly more expensive than apartments and are not suitable for months-long stays.

.......

[purduejake]

1. $59 a night?!? WTF?!?

My company never pays more than $50 a night for a nice hotel in San Francisco, Denver, or Chicago. Why is the average cost so high?!?

[I_Make_Mistakes]

2. How about the cruise ships at full value price housing relief workers

They are so transparent in their funneling of funds, and where is the MSM? ZZZZing!

[mestup]

3. Yeah, really. Anderson Cooper had Falwell on to talk "end times."

Keith Olbermann was the only one on tonight with anything of substance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/
The Nexus of Politics and Terror

[saigon68]

4. They are sleeping soundly----in their "HEATED WATERBEDS"

Nothing to SEE

MOVE ALONG ---- MOVE ALONG.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

5. Actually, it was on one of the major sources I watch

PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC news, C-span, or Nightline. I only pay 10.00 something for cable, so it is easy to figure out the source.

Someone, presented this. It is obscene, and should be screamed from the mountaintops, but, it is not good for ratings, huh?

[TomClash]

6. $50 a night in SF?

Where are you staying? The Y?

[purduejake]

10. Radisson

[TomClash]

12. good job

[SouthernDem2004]

8. Wow, where are you staying?

[purduejake]

11. The Radisson in SF and Denver.

Chicago varies.

[leftchick]

7. why not bring back the apartment rental vouchers done in the past?

It is cheaper and much more comfortable for the families. Oh wait, it makes too much sense! :eyes:

[zbdent]

9. Yes, but how much does it go down when you factor out

Bush's stay ?