GARY | Monday was checkout day for the 50 or so families who have lived at the Majestic Star Hotel since floodwaters chased them from their Gary and Lake Station homes.

Representatives from the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were at the hotel at 11:30 a.m. Monday as they families left their temporary quarters. It was the last day the state provided housing vouchers for recent flood victims that allowed them to stay in local hotels and motels.

Some residents from Lake Station said they feel like they've been abandoned by their community and by FEMA - especially as they waited for transportation in the parking lot of the hotel with their belongings.

FEMA and state representatives arranged for a pair of buses to transport families to the Calumet Township trustee's shelter at 1900 W. 41st Ave., where they said food would be plentiful. Some residents opted against going to the trustee's shelter, saying they had somewhere else to go.

Jamilah Fraser, FEMA spokeswoman, reiterated that victims need to call 211, and someone would be available immediately to help them with their specific issues.

"We are working with people to find a long-term solution to their problems," she said.

"Gov. (Mitch) Daniels wants to be sure that everyone is taken care of. Notices have been slipped under the doors at hotel rooms. We're here to help people who don't have anywhere to go," Fraser said.

Before FEMA arrived, William Conklin, 40, of Lake Station, had been prepared to sit outside the hotel with his few belongings until he could find somewhere else to stay. Conklin, who lived with his mother on 29th Avenue, said he and his sister, Donna Conklin, stayed at Majestic Star Hotel while their mother stayed with a sister in Hammond.

The displaced Lake Station residents said they received rides to the hotel through Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist's office, which provided transportation via school buses. No other transportation has been offered since then, William Conklin said.

"I haven't been able to go to work in a couple of weeks. I'd prefer to stay closer to where I live so I can get back and forth to work," he said. Conklin also said he has food stamps, but he had no way to get to a grocery store to buy food.

Amy Pitts, 24, of Lake Station, has been in the area less than a year, and had just gotten settled with her two children at Riverside Mobile Home Park along Deep River.

Pitts said she lost everything in the flood, and was traveling with garbage bags full of clothes donated to her and her children, Melissa Pitts, who is 1, and Anthony Felipe, who will turn 5 year on Wednesday.

"I'm not going to be able to do much for him. I'm just hoping to get a cake for his birthday," she said Monday as she made up beds for herself and her children at the Calumet Township trustee's shelter.

Bonnie Schnaedter, 52, and her 72-year-old mother, Judith Rokowski, also are both displaced from their Riverside mobile homes.

Schnaedter said once she gets her FEMA check she may be ready to "get out of Indiana for good."

HOUSING

Officials said they have identified more than 1,000 rental units to help people who still need housing. They said it's important individuals apply to FEMA if they still need assistance with immediate housing.

Those with property damage from September's storms are urged to apply for help from FEMA online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling (800) 621-FEMA (3362), or TTY (800) 462-7585 for those a with speech or hearing impairment.