AUSTIN, Texas –With tens of thousands of households already transitioned out of FEMA’s temporary hotel sheltering program, recovery officials are working to assist those still remaining as they move toward more permanent housing before the program eventually ends.

The Transitional Sheltering Assistance program (TSA) has provided interim lodging to more than 54,000 households. Today, 8,661 households remain in TSA, with hundreds of families checking out of hotels every week.

“The program is working as it should,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Kevin Hannes. “It is temporary in nature. We know the end goal for survivors is to move back into their repaired or rebuilt homes and for renters to find new rental accommodations.”

A mid-month criteria review will trigger the identification of those who are no longer eligible for the temporary program. These survivors have either been contacted or will be contacted in the next few days in order to prepare them to check out of their hotels on Feb. 21.

Survivors in hotels who are unsure of their continued TSA eligibility:

Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 or VRS) or 800-462-7585 (TTY).

Log into their account on https://www.disasterassistance.gov/.

Visit a Disaster Recover Center (DRC). For DRC locations and hours go to www.fema.gov/DRC.

Ask the hotel to look in the lodging web portal to see whether they have eligibility beyond Feb. 20.

“This is when it is so important that survivors are active participants in their own recovery,” Hannes continued. “Many have received rental assistance funding, have had an opportunity to save money by not renting for several months, or are now able to return to safe, sanitary and functional homes.”

Recovery partners at all levels are working together to ensure remaining hotel participants are getting the support they need, in the form of information, available financial resources and guidance as they transition out of the temporary program.

The TSA program has been extended four times; the latest extension was through March 12.

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 www.dps.texas.gov/dem/.