Shelter Closures on Saturday Oct 15

Before Hurricane Rita hit, President Bush set a October 15 deadline to move Katrina evacuees out of shelters. It doesn't get much press coverage, but the deadline still stands. I couldn't find many recent articles written about this, but a USA Today article published last Wednesday has some key items:

"We're still going to shoot for that target" says R. David Paulison, acting FEMA director

FEMA has been trying to set up transitional housing for evacuees but has run into problems... The agency's plan to set up 30,000 temporary homes every two weeks also has fallen flat.

FEMA hasn't been able to secure enough public land for evacuees. And when land is made available, Paulison said, the agency has to put in water and sewer lines, electrical power and other basic services before it can allow people to move in. Paulison acknowledged the slow pace of setting up such temporary housing: "It's very frustrating."

There's a need for A LOT of temporary housing.