Firefighters, police, and other New Orleans first responders and their families are scheduled to be moved March 1 from the cruise ships that have served as their emergency housing since Hurricane Katrina displaced them from their homes last August.

Perhaps more than 1,000 people in all have been living aboard three cruise ships moored at New Orleans for the past six months, but those individuals now must be moved because the ships must return to private service, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA spokesperson David Passey said all the first responders and their families will be provided a FEMA-sponsored place to live, but some may have to stay in hotels for a while. Others may need to be put up in travel trailers until more permanent housing can be secured.

Putting first responders into travel trailers on anything more than an interim basis could prompt hundreds of firefighters and police to pull up stakes and go to work in other cities that are already courting them, like Houston and Dallas, according to Police Foundation of New Orleans Executive Director Bob Stellingworth