The U.S. government is taking steps to move Hurricane Katrina evacuees out of hotels and into long-term housing.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA has told families living in more than 40,000 hotel rooms across the country that it will stop paying their hotel bills on December 1.
Funding will last until January 7 for another 12,000 families occupying hotel rooms in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, where damage from Katrina has led to a housing shortage.
Up to 150,000 evacuees will have to find apartments or other housing options by the deadlines if they want to continue receiving FEMA rental assistance of $786 a month.
Advocates for the evacuees have criticized the deadlines, saying FEMA is not giving the families enough time to find new housing.
