Housing evacuees in Georgia hotels costs FEMA $19 million

<p>Taxpayers have been billed more than $19 million to house hurricane evacuees in Georgia hotels.</p><p>And the cost will keep going up as long as the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to house evacuees in hotels.</p><p>Nationally, FEMA has spent $325 million on hotel rooms, enduring criticism over the high cost of the rooms.</p><p>Federal officials had hoped to have all evacuees out of hotels by Saturday. But under a federal judge's ruling, FEMA must keep the hotel program running until at least Feb. 7.</p><p>In Georgia, FEMA paid for rooms at more than 650 hotels, ranging from the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta to a $35-a-night room in Lowndes County on the Florida border.</p><p>According to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, rooms averaged $67.47 a night. They were booked in Georgia between Oct. 27 _ when FEMA took over housing evacuees from the American Red Cross _ and Dec. 23. Most of the money was spent in the Atlanta area and FEMA paid for more than 286,000 bookings.</p><p>Those records also show evacuees in Georgia were housed in variety of places.</p><p>Some stayed at the YMCA in Atlanta, with rooms costing an average $18.12 a night. FEMA was billed about $1,015 for those rooms. But the most expensive rooms were at the Embassy Suites in Atlanta's trendy Buckhead area. It charged an average $159.46 per room. According to the FEMA records, the full-service hotel billed the federal government about $81,485.</p><p>However, the Tara Inn & Suites in Jonesboro topped the list when it comes to costs to taxpayers. By Dec. 23, according to records, FEMA had spent more money at the Tara Inn & Suites than at any other hotel in the state, getting billed about $312,728 _ $78 a room each night.</p><p>The owner, Jeff Kashani, said he was surprised to hear his hotel was at the top of the list.</p><p>He said the hotel charged FEMA between $59 and $99. He noted that the rooms are suites and have kitchenettes. Hotel employees also cooked Thanksgiving dinner for evacuees and the hotel and its staff donated Christmas gifts for the families, Kashani said.</p><p>Felecia Perry, the general manager, said 116 adults and 42 children are still staying at the Tara Inn & Suites.</p><p>The hotel was packed with evacuees from September through November, Perry said. At one point, it had as many as 200 people in 60 rooms.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc2b0)</p>