2000 Remain Homeless From RI Floods

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) - For many Rhode Islanders affected by last month's flood, home is a hotel room, a friend or relative's house, or maybe even a car.

A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency tells the Providence Journal that about 2,000 residents in the state still haven't been able to return to their flood-damaged homes.

The agency says it's providing housing assistance to many of those people, but some complain of being caught in an endless maze of red tape and insurance forms.

Judy Jacques-Perez is staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick. She says it's the third hotel she's lived at since the Pocasset River spilled over its banks and left nearly six feet of water in her home.

State officials say total damage from the flooding will exceed $200 million.