Thousands of evacuees miss hotel deadline

Hurricane evacuees in nearly 2,000 hotel rooms across Georgia missed a midnight Monday deadline to register for federal funds that would extend their hotel stays at least a few more weeks.

The thousands of evacuees who did not register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have to pay their hotel bills themselves starting next Tuesday. If they can't, they likely will be forced to move out.

Advocates for the poor worry that the deadline could put hurricane evacuees throughout metro Atlanta out on the streets. But hotel managers said Tuesday they don't know what they'll do if evacuees can't pay for the rooms but refuse to move out.

FEMA officials do not believe that large numbers of evacuees will suddenly become homeless on Feb. 7, FEMA spokeswoman Susie Webb said. She said many evacuees who failed to register have probably made other housing arrangements.

"There may be all different kinds of circumstances," she said.

Some may have stayed in hotels as long as possible to save money, some may have family they can live with once the free hotel is no longer an option, and some may have lined up apartments and just not moved in yet, Webb said.

Meanwhile, FEMA teams continue to visit evacuees in hotels to offer help finding apartments. "We're working hard to make sure that there are no surprises," she said.

Detra Eady, manager of the Country Hearth Suites in College Park, said she has no idea what she'll do when the federal funds stop coming. Her hotel has 48 rooms occupied by evacuees, but only about 14 registered with FEMA.

Hotel staff spread the word about the deadline by distributing fliers, making calls to evacuees' rooms and reminding people when they passed the front desk. She doesn't think the people who failed to call FEMA by the deadline have found jobs or have another place to live.

"These people have nowhere to go, no money, so what do you expect them to do?" Eady said. "It's going to be a mess."Eady said she — and possibly some evacuees — are hoping that FEMA extends its deadline again.

FEMA has changed the deadline for ending payments for hotel rooms several times, but officials say Monday's cutoff for evacuees to register for ongoing help is firm.

Pat Jackson, manager of the La Quinta Inn in Norcross, said she has Katrina evacuees staying in 17 rooms, and only about half signed up for FEMA funds. She also doesn't know what she'll do when FEMA stops picking up the tab for the unregistered evacuees.

"If people don't have nowhere to go, they're not going to want to just walk out," Jackson said. "Hopefully they have other plans."

Fred Beck, an official with the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association, said each property owner or manager will have to decide whether to offer evacuees a discount or free lodging or whether to issue a written notice to convince evacuees to leave. Most people will vacate a room when hotel staff ask them to, Beck said.

Christine McManus, spokeswoman for the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, said the agency will urge its local offices to work with their local governments and other groups to develop a contingency plan. "We're just moving forward as optimistically as we can," McManus said.

FEMA officials approved extended payments for hotel rooms for 1,580 applicants in Georgia as of Monday night and rejected only 25 applicants, said Webb, the FEMA spokeswoman. Each applicant could represent a single person or a family.

Nationwide, FEMA approved ongoing hotel payments for 19,117 applicants, Webb said. That represents 73 percent of those nationwide who called FEMA's toll-free number seeking an extension, she said.