Thursday Katrina update

Here's a partial Katrina update. More to follow as yr obd't blogmother digs through the last several days' announcements.

- The HUD Katrina section's "Program Guidance, Waivers and Notices" sub-page is full of new goodies. More on those in a bit.

- We have some more from Secretary Jackson on the Katrina relief program. There are some not very informative press releases prepared for his appearances in Dallas and Houston but also some more detailed if mainly anecdotal remarks in an "Ask the White House" exchange from this past Tuesday, Sep. 27. Statements there include a progress report on identifying vacant conventional housing:

At HUD, we have reviewed vacant HUD-owned single-family homes within a 500-mile radius of the affected areas, and identified for FEMA approximately 6,000 temporary housing units. Additionally, we’ve surveyed 47 states and found approximately 42,000 rental housing units available as potential temporary housing.

- A Houston business magazine offers tips on contracting for the disaster recovery, including that "Businesses should keep an eye on Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, who was recently appointed to lead Texas' Katrina-response effort."

- FEMA is apparently announcing a possibility of reimbursement for spending by "faith-based organizations" in the disaster areas. Here's the Houston Chronicle on same.

- Yet more disaster announcements from FEMA for Louisiana in the Federal Register -- here and here.

- GAO has posted several texts of testimony on the Katrina response. The same new-items list (yesterday's) shows a report on factors affecting price competition among real estate brokers.