WASHINGTON – The Bush administration said Thursday that it would extend housing aid through March 2009 for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a blanket expansion that more than doubles the amount of aid typically received by evacuees after a major disaster.
The decision is recognition that 20 months after the 2005 storms, many residents remain without permanent addresses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday it will continue to maintain trailers, mobile homes and apartments for about 130,000 households, an arrangement originally scheduled to expire two months ago. Federal law requires that aid provided by FEMA end 18 months after a disaster is declared unless the president grants an extension. President Bush has already approved one extension that would have expired in August.
Officials also announced that HUD would take over the management of the housing program from FEMA.
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