Maine officials decide how to accommodate hurricane victims.

Publication: Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Kennebec Journal

Sep. 8--AUGUSTA -- Gov. John Baldacci said Wednesday that Maine is capable of housing up to 900 victims of Hurricane Katrina. But he said it's unlikely that many will come here.

If they do, state and local officials are scrambling to determine how they would pay to accommodate them.

Maine human services, education and labor officials all say federal officials have indicated they would provide financial support if the state houses and supports evacuees from the storm-ravaged south.

In some cases, details have yet to be explained as to how that support would be supplied. The questions come as officials in other states worry that the botched early response to the disaster may not bode well for federal support of their efforts when states' bills come due.

But the point may be moot. After a conference call with federal officials, Baldacci said governors were told hurricane victims don't want to be relocated from shelters in the Southeast.

"There's a lot...

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