Homeland Security

18 November 2005

U.S. Agency Updates Relief Efforts for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita

Agency has provided affected households nearly $4.4 billion to help rebuild

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a fact sheet November 15 updating recovery efforts for areas along the U.S. Gulf Coast stricken by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late August and early September.

The hurricanes and subsequent flooding devastated parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. (See related article.)

Among the results achieved thus far, FEMA reports that 99 percent of the 321,000 evacuees are no longer living in shelters, and that substantial funds have been made available to help those affected with housing needs, damage compensation, and other financial assistance.

For additional information, see Hurricane Recovery.

Following is the text of the FEMA fact sheet:

(begin fact sheet)

U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
November 15, 2005

By the Numbers:
Unprecedented Recovery Progress Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Fact Sheet

1: Less than one percent of the peak population of over 321,000 evacuees once housed in congregate shelters remain in such facilities -- virtually all of whom are today located in only three states (Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi).

5: Hurricane-related damage spurred disaster declarations in all 5 Gulf Coast states, following the most widespread and catastrophic series of disasters in the nation's history.

45: A record-setting 44 states and the District of Columbia were given emergency declarations to cover expenses related to sheltering millions of evacuees forced from their homes by Katrina and Rita.

70: Responding to the hurricanes resulted in 24-hour activation of the National Response Coordination Center and other operations centers for more than 70 days - their longest continuous activation ever.

96: Roughly 96 percent of Katrina and Rita evacuees who had been in congregate shelters found alternative housing by mid-October.

3,000:A national network of 3,000 case managers is being organized by United Methodist Committee on Relief and the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster to meet unprecedented case management and long-term recovery needs of thousands of families. International donations were used to provide $66 million to assist with this program.

14,000: More than 14,000 federal personnel have been deployed to help state and local officials along the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina and Rita.

60,000: More than 60,000 homes in Mississippi and Louisiana have been determined to be completely destroyed using sophisticated aerial mapping, and aid is flowing to those households along with the thousands of others receiving property reimbursement grants from FEMA daily.

500,000: More than 500,000 households have received three months of rental assistance under FEMA's Transitional Housing Assistance Program.

1.2 Million: FEMA's Transitional Housing Assistance Program has provided nearly $1.2 million in cash assistance to eligible households to help with their immediate housing needs.

1.4 Million: To date, nearly 1.4 million families have received financial assistance from FEMA to help with re-establishing their lives in the wake of historic devastation along the Gulf Coast.

181 Million: FEMA has approved $181 million in Community Disaster Loans to date, the first of many that will help keep essential services online in the hardest hit communities.

4.4 Billion: Nearly $4.4 billion dollars in FEMA assistance has already been provided to eligible individual households across the Gulf Coast States for property loss and home damage, helping to get individuals and families on the road to recovery and rebuilding their lives.

(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)