FEMA Provided Free Hotel Rooms for Hurricane Victims, But They Couldn’t Afford It

Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Tampa Bay area as a destructive Category 3 hurricane, with many residents across Hernando County placed under evacuation orders. Well after the storm passed, flooding from the Withlacoochee River began inundating the Ridge Manor area causing further devastation.

Just over a week after landfall, FEMA offered a lifeline to those that couldn’t return home due to damage from the hurricane or rising floodwaters – a program known as the Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA).

TSA grants eligible storm victims free lodging at participating hotels for up to 30 days, though it can sometimes be extended on a case-by-case basis. Hotels volunteer to participate in the program with FEMA and agree to terms and conditions. The agency lists participating properties on a special website that evacuees can search, who must call the hotel directly to book.

As part of their agreement with FEMA to serve as a TSA host property, they are forbidden from collecting a method of payment or deposit from evacuees checking in under the TSA program, according to the FEMA website and documents given to evacuees upon check-in.

However, a Hernando Sun investigation found participating hotels in Hernando County were violating that agreement, and turning storm victims away if they didn’t pay substantial deposits at check-in.

Days Inn, Brooksville
The Hernando Sun spoke with a Ridge Manor family whose home was inaccessible due to rising floodwaters blocking streets and driveways. Like many residents interviewed for this story, they asked not to be named out of fear the hotel would evict them for speaking to the media.

Upon being notified of their TSA eligibility, the family arrived at Days Inn on Windmere Road in unincorporated Brooksville, near the intersection of Cortez Blvd. and I-75. According to the resident, while checking in, the front desk agent turned the family away until they could come up with $250 for a deposit.

With nowhere to go, and tight on cash after returning from evacuating out of state, the family called friends and gathered $250 to check-in. The resident provided the Hernando Sun with a copy of their debit card statement and agreement with FEMA that the hotel made them sign, which states:

“I am not required to provide the hotel with a credit card or a cash deposit to secure the room at check-in.”

When a reporter visited the property, an employee, who did not provide her name, confirmed that the hotel will not allow storm victims to check-in under the TSA program unless they paid for a deposit up front. When the employee was made aware of the FEMA terms and conditions form that they give to evacuees to sign stating the hotel is forbidden from collecting a deposit, she reiterated that the hotel would continue collecting the deposit and turn storm victims away that couldn’t pay it.

Numerous phone calls and messages were left with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, the parent company of Days Inn. They did not respond.

Quality Inn, Weeki Wachee
A Brooksville resident, displaced from her home due to hurricane damage, sought refuge at Quality Inn on Cortez Blvd. in Weeki Wachee. Similarly, she did not want her name to be used in the story out of fear the hotel would retaliate.

Upon arrival, the resident stated the front desk agent asked for a $150 deposit, despite providing them with information from FEMA that participating hotels are not supposed to collect money from TSA participants at check-in. After pleading with staff, and with nowhere to go, she relented and paid $150 to secure her room. The resident provided a credit card statement showing the
charge.

“I don’t understand why [they] had to charge a deposit when FEMA said not to,” she said. “What kind of people do that?”

The resident stated while waiting to check-in, she saw another family get turned away due to their inability to pay a deposit.
A reporter visited the hotel to inquire about their deposit policy for TSA participants, but the manager refused to answer questions.

Numerous calls and messages were left with Choice Hotels, the parent company of Quality Inn. They have not responded.

Dozens of residents turned to social media in the days after the TSA program was activated, expressing frustration that hotels had no availability within a reasonable distance of their home. Many hotels, inundated with storm victims seeking availability, had simply stopped answering the phone.

A representative from Rodeway Inn in Bushnell, the next closest hotel outside of Hernando County participating in the TSA program, advised that availability is scarce.

“We were already at high capacity,” the employee stated, who declined to provide his name because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the media. The employee pointed out that many of the evacuees are competing with contractors and first responders who were already staged there pre-landfall.

The employee advised they were trying to accommodate evacuees by locating other hotels with availability to send them to, though the closest properties they could find were an hour away in Ocala.

In a prepared statement from FEMA, they acknowledged that although some properties may ask for a deposit, it should not be required to check-in.

“FEMA does not require anyone to present a credit card or deposit at the time of check-in,” the statement read.

CLC Lodging, a private company who administers the TSA program on behalf of FEMA, also confirmed that no money is to be collected from TSA participants upon check-in.