MIAMI (AP) – Trying to make the best of a bad situation, federal officials might use foreclosed homes as temporary housing for hurricane evacuees in Florida as soon as this summer.

The proposal would keep people close to their homes and communities instead of scattering them around the country, which happened when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans nearly four years ago. Thousands never returned.

But the idea is still in its infancy and many questions remain unanswered, including whether the banks that own the foreclosed homes would agree to such a plan.

“It makes all the sense in the world,” said Jack McCabe, a South Florida real estate analyst, who has watched tens of thousands of homes go into foreclosure. “We have a lot of vacant units available.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency told The Associated Press that it might consider using foreclosed homes if hotels, shelters and other housing options are full and only for a catastrophic situation, such as Hurricane Katrina. The idea was discussed at a hurricane drill this week in Florida.

Jeff Bryant, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for Florida, said the agency will work with other federal agencies such as Housing and Urban Development and state emergency planners to see if it could be a solution.

If the proposal works in Florida, it could serve as a model nationally. In April, there were 278,287 homes in some stage of foreclosure in Florida, according to RealtyTrac. The idea isn’t wholly new: about 100 families were moved into foreclosed homes after Katrina, FEMA said.

“When you have a diaspora that leaves the state it’s very hard to get those guys back. You really want to prevent them from leaving the state,” Bryant said. “We want to keep them in their same local community.”

FEMA would likely contact banks, mortgage holders and their reps to compile a list of available homes. The evacuees would then be assigned homes close to their own and FEMA would use a contractor, acting as its agent, to pay rent directly to whoever owns the home, said Jon Arno, FEMA’s individual assistance branch director for Florida.