A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina evacuees will ask a judge to order the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue housing assistance for thousands of evacuees threatened with loss of benefits and potential homelessness.

A class action lawsuit, says FEMA’s response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been “wholly inept.” It echoes complaints by housing advocates, city officials and others that the agency has unlawfully disqualified thousands of evacuees from its housing programs and has provided confusing and contradictory information.

As a result, the lawsuit alleges, “tens of thousands of the most vulnerable Americans — among them the elderly, the disabled, children and the poor — are faced with the real threat, through no fault of their own, of becoming homeless.”