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FEMA extends hotel shelter money for Puerto Rican evacuees

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Friday extended the hotel stays of 1,700 families who evacuated from Puerto Rico to the mainland U.S. following Hurricane Maria. Their aid was to be cut off Friday.

Charito Morales, right, speaks as part of a group of activists advocating for Puerto Rican families who came to Philadelphia following Hurricane Maria protest in front of FEMA's Philadelphia office in Philadelphia, PA on April 18, 2018. DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
Charito Morales, right, speaks as part of a group of activists advocating for Puerto Rican families who came to Philadelphia following Hurricane Maria protest in front of FEMA's Philadelphia office in Philadelphia, PA on April 18, 2018. DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff PhotographerRead moreDAVID MAIALETTI/Staff photographer

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday extended the hotel stays of 1,700 families who evacuated Puerto Rico and relocated to mainland U.S. states after Hurricane Maria. They were due to lose their temporary housing aid Saturday.

Those families, including 31 who are staying in Philadelphia hotels, now will be able to remain in their temporary quarters until May 14, when the aid program will end, the agency said. The aid had been scheduled to expire, but a "blanket" extention was granted at the request of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

The extension came as many evacuees in Philadelphia worried about winding up on the streets, given the city's homeless shelters are full and spaces in public housing limited.