Hurricane victims are headed for homelessness
An affordable housing crisis is deepening in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Even before the storms, each community had severe shortages of affordable rental homes.
Houston and Orlando had fewer than 18 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 of the lowest income seniors, people with disabilities and families struggling to get by. In Puerto Rico 45 percent, and the Virgin Island 30 percent, of the population lived below the poverty level - far higher than the 15 percent national average.
The vast majority of the poorest families in each location were paying at least half of their limited incomes on rent, leaving few resources for their other basic needs, like food, healthcare, transportation, or for savings for when disasters hit.
Then Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma roared in and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. The lowest income residents with the fewest resources to fall back on have been the hardest hit.
In the months since the storms made landfall, not enough has been done to address the housing recovery needs of those impacted.
More than 70,000 people - including thousands of children - are still living in hotels through FEMA's Transitional Shelter Assistance program. Thousands more remain in shelters.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hurricane-victims-are-headed-for-homelessness/ar-BBFzGcY?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp
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