Friday, August 10, 2007
FEMA: FLIP/FLOP FLIP/FLOP
RV Business
Friday, August 10, 2007
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cease using travel trailers to house disaster victims and will buy back any surplus trailers sold to the public as recreational vehicles, according to a report in the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion Ledger.
"FEMA will refund the purchase price of any recreational vehicle sold, within the last 12 months, directly to an occupant, upon repossession of the unit," FEMA Administrator David Paulison wrote his staff in a recent memo.
Many hurricane Katrina and Rita victims still are living in travel trailers because they can't find or afford alternative housing. Many are concerned elevated levels of formaldehyde in the trailers and mobile homes have made many inhabitants sick, and some are taking legal action.
FEMA last week announced it would stop selling surplus trailers - those vacated by storm victims who found better housing - through the General Services Administration, which serves as the federal government's supplier. But FEMA did not tell the public it has decided to buy back surplus trailers, which Paulison said were sold at a rate of about 1,200 a week.
"The reasons we have not made that public are mainly because we're in the process of determining how this process is going to work," said FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker. "We didn't want to make the announcement and then receive myriad calls but have no information on how we were proceeding."
Paulison also wrote that FEMA "will not continue to offer recreational vehicles as a temporary housing option in future disasters." He urged FEMA officials to "develop and implement an aggressive program" to move thousands of trailer and mobile home residents in Mississippi and Louisiana into rental apartments.
FEMA has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a way to test the trailers to determine their toxicity.
Formaldehyde is a toxic chemical that is released by many construction materials, including plywood and spray-on insulating foam. It is a naturally occurring chemical, but in elevated levels it can cause headaches, burning eyes and throats, nausea and difficulty breathing.
Friday, August 10, 2007
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cease using travel trailers to house disaster victims and will buy back any surplus trailers sold to the public as recreational vehicles, according to a report in the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion Ledger.
"FEMA will refund the purchase price of any recreational vehicle sold, within the last 12 months, directly to an occupant, upon repossession of the unit," FEMA Administrator David Paulison wrote his staff in a recent memo.
Many hurricane Katrina and Rita victims still are living in travel trailers because they can't find or afford alternative housing. Many are concerned elevated levels of formaldehyde in the trailers and mobile homes have made many inhabitants sick, and some are taking legal action.
FEMA last week announced it would stop selling surplus trailers - those vacated by storm victims who found better housing - through the General Services Administration, which serves as the federal government's supplier. But FEMA did not tell the public it has decided to buy back surplus trailers, which Paulison said were sold at a rate of about 1,200 a week.
"The reasons we have not made that public are mainly because we're in the process of determining how this process is going to work," said FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker. "We didn't want to make the announcement and then receive myriad calls but have no information on how we were proceeding."
Paulison also wrote that FEMA "will not continue to offer recreational vehicles as a temporary housing option in future disasters." He urged FEMA officials to "develop and implement an aggressive program" to move thousands of trailer and mobile home residents in Mississippi and Louisiana into rental apartments.
FEMA has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a way to test the trailers to determine their toxicity.
Formaldehyde is a toxic chemical that is released by many construction materials, including plywood and spray-on insulating foam. It is a naturally occurring chemical, but in elevated levels it can cause headaches, burning eyes and throats, nausea and difficulty breathing.
