AUSTIN, Texas – Eligible Hurricane Harvey survivors receiving Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) may receive an extension to stay temporarily in hotels while they look for an alternative place to live. The new extension is through March 12, 2018.
Disaster survivors with a continuing need for the hotel sheltering program will receive a phone call, email, and/or text message advising them if they have continued eligibility for assistance through a participating hotel. There will be a mid-term eligibility review on Feb. 20, 2018.
FEMA makes payments to participating hotels for the room and any applicable taxes (including non-refundable pet fees – up to the maximum allowable room night charge). Applicants are responsible for all other incidental costs (meals, transportation, etc.). Hotels require a government issued photo ID at time of check-in, survivors must adhere to any hotel check-in requirements and may be required to provide a credit card for incidental expenses.
A household of four or fewer members is authorized one hotel room and a household of five or more will be authorized additional rooms (limit four people per room). One member of each household, 18 years or older, must reside in each room.
Applicants with disabilities or who have access and functional needs should check with hotels to ensure appropriate accommodations are available. Those with pets must check with the hotel to see if the hotel accepts pets.
TSA-eligible applicants must find and book their own hotel rooms. The list of participating hotels is available at DisasterAssistance.gov under the Transitional Shelter Assistance Program link or by calling FEMA at 800-321-3362. For 711 or Video Relay Service, call 800-621-3362. For TTY, call 800-462-7585.
For more information on Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the Hurricane Harvey disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4332, or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FEMAharvey, the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6, or the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at http://www.dps.texas.gov/dem/.
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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711/VRS – Video Relay Service) (TTY: 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800) 877-8339.
