Wednesday, March 19, 2008
FEMA RELOCATING TRAILER RESIDENTS
RV Business
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Emergency trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are fast disappearing from the Texas landscape in the wake of recent air quality testing by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Jasper Newsboy reported that CDC’s testing for formaldehyde levels prompted FEMA to mandate relocation of all residents still in emergency housing deployed after hurricanes Rita and Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005.
"FEMA is moving aggressively to encourage people to leave the travel trailers and move on with their housing plans," said Don Jacks, lead public information officer for the FEMA in Beaumont.
Jacks said that after Hurricane Rita, more than 380,000 people in Southeast Texas applied for some kind of assistance from FEMA – everything from money for minor repairs to needing a place to stay until homes could be rebuilt.
Some families were so large they needed more than one travel trailer; FEMA supplied 4,600 units to 4,200 Texas families. Thousands more trailers went to survivors in other Gulf States.
Jacks said that in the past, FEMA programs were designed to run 18 months. What no one anticipated is that the vast scale of back-to-back disasters meant there was not enough building material for timely repairs. Even when building materials became available, there was not enough skilled labor, and even when laborers could be found, there was nowhere to house them anywhere close to the damage in the Gulf States.
"I would like people to understand that FEMA is still here in Texas (almost 30 months later) and we will be here as long as it takes," Jacks said. "FEMA is still providing assistance to families impacted by Hurricane Rita."
He added, "The Robert Stafford Act sets down what the agency can and cannot do. FEMA is not a social services agency."
According to the Newsboy, the plan was always that travel trailers were to be used for the shortest possible time.
"Move them out is the whole idea," Jacks said. "FEMA is simply a helping hand to give you a chance to catch your breath and move on with your own recovery. And recovery is not a spectator sport."
Families who accepted assistance in the form of trailers signed a lease agreement to the effect that: you are a temporary resident (of this trailer) and you will continue with your housing plans, either to build, repair, or find another rental property, and return the trailer in good condition as soon as possible.
In the first 18 months, FEMA representatives were required by the Stafford Act to contact occupants at least once every 90 days to check on their progress toward a long-term housing solution, but by July 2007, more than 700 families still lived in trailers in Texas.
"Now we are in a position to meet with the occupants several times a week," Jacks said. "We have strike teams, six four-person teams, who go out every day meeting the trailer occupants."
Jacks said the strike teams explain the formaldehyde issues, and offer to pay to move the people, store their belongings, and in some cases, board household pets.
"The outcomes have been very positive," Jacks said. They have been moving as many as five or six families a day and deactivating the trailers as fast as possible.
Jacks said he understands the reasons some people are reluctant to move – because there are no rental resources, because they live so far out and have livestock that requires care, because they are concerned about protecting property if it is left vacant, because of needing to be close to school/church/family or jobs.
Nevertheless, "we are ending the travel trailer program," Jacks said. "We have set a date of June 1 and we will work very aggressively to meet that goal."
The Newsboy reported that two short-lived plans were initiated at the beginning of summer 2007, with the goal of getting FEMA out of the travel trailer business.
Occupants were offered the opportunity to buy the trailers they were living in for $300. The alternative was that occupants would begin paying rent, $50 the first month, increasing $50 each month to a maximum of $600.
That plan lasted a few weeks, before the outcry over formaldehyde fumes, which are worse in summer conditions, caused Congress to stop the sale to occupants, put the rent payment plan on hold, and initiate testing by the CDC.
More than 3,000 deactivated travel trailers were already massed at the Jasper marshaling yard. They were being sold in lots in online government surplus auctions. Those sales were also halted, and according to Jacks, there are no plans to reinstate the auctions at this time.
According to the Newsboy, FEMA administrator R. David Paulison said flatly that FEMA will never again use travel trailers to house disaster victims, but may continue to use larger mobile homes.
FEMA is looking for alternative solutions, according to a Feb. 29 press release. The Joint Housing Solutions Group (JHSG) is reviewing alternative housing. Field teams from FEMA, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) have evaluated 40 different types of housing units from folding houses to converted shipping containers.
They will also look at the Gulf Coast cottages with front porches developed by the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP) for Katrina/Rita households.
"Among the lessons learned from Katrina and Rita are those that taught us that we need to be better prepared to house large numbers of individuals and families safely, securely and quickly after catastrophic disasters," said Carlos J. Castillo, an assistant administrator.
Indoor air quality is being addressed through specifications that require low-emission materials and better filtration and ventilation.
The ideal unit will be adaptable to various environments, handicap accessible, suitable for FEMA group sites or privately owned property, and able to be produced and deployed quickly.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Emergency trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are fast disappearing from the Texas landscape in the wake of recent air quality testing by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Jasper Newsboy reported that CDC’s testing for formaldehyde levels prompted FEMA to mandate relocation of all residents still in emergency housing deployed after hurricanes Rita and Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005.
"FEMA is moving aggressively to encourage people to leave the travel trailers and move on with their housing plans," said Don Jacks, lead public information officer for the FEMA in Beaumont.
Jacks said that after Hurricane Rita, more than 380,000 people in Southeast Texas applied for some kind of assistance from FEMA – everything from money for minor repairs to needing a place to stay until homes could be rebuilt.
Some families were so large they needed more than one travel trailer; FEMA supplied 4,600 units to 4,200 Texas families. Thousands more trailers went to survivors in other Gulf States.
Jacks said that in the past, FEMA programs were designed to run 18 months. What no one anticipated is that the vast scale of back-to-back disasters meant there was not enough building material for timely repairs. Even when building materials became available, there was not enough skilled labor, and even when laborers could be found, there was nowhere to house them anywhere close to the damage in the Gulf States.
"I would like people to understand that FEMA is still here in Texas (almost 30 months later) and we will be here as long as it takes," Jacks said. "FEMA is still providing assistance to families impacted by Hurricane Rita."
He added, "The Robert Stafford Act sets down what the agency can and cannot do. FEMA is not a social services agency."
According to the Newsboy, the plan was always that travel trailers were to be used for the shortest possible time.
"Move them out is the whole idea," Jacks said. "FEMA is simply a helping hand to give you a chance to catch your breath and move on with your own recovery. And recovery is not a spectator sport."
Families who accepted assistance in the form of trailers signed a lease agreement to the effect that: you are a temporary resident (of this trailer) and you will continue with your housing plans, either to build, repair, or find another rental property, and return the trailer in good condition as soon as possible.
In the first 18 months, FEMA representatives were required by the Stafford Act to contact occupants at least once every 90 days to check on their progress toward a long-term housing solution, but by July 2007, more than 700 families still lived in trailers in Texas.
"Now we are in a position to meet with the occupants several times a week," Jacks said. "We have strike teams, six four-person teams, who go out every day meeting the trailer occupants."
Jacks said the strike teams explain the formaldehyde issues, and offer to pay to move the people, store their belongings, and in some cases, board household pets.
"The outcomes have been very positive," Jacks said. They have been moving as many as five or six families a day and deactivating the trailers as fast as possible.
Jacks said he understands the reasons some people are reluctant to move – because there are no rental resources, because they live so far out and have livestock that requires care, because they are concerned about protecting property if it is left vacant, because of needing to be close to school/church/family or jobs.
Nevertheless, "we are ending the travel trailer program," Jacks said. "We have set a date of June 1 and we will work very aggressively to meet that goal."
The Newsboy reported that two short-lived plans were initiated at the beginning of summer 2007, with the goal of getting FEMA out of the travel trailer business.
Occupants were offered the opportunity to buy the trailers they were living in for $300. The alternative was that occupants would begin paying rent, $50 the first month, increasing $50 each month to a maximum of $600.
That plan lasted a few weeks, before the outcry over formaldehyde fumes, which are worse in summer conditions, caused Congress to stop the sale to occupants, put the rent payment plan on hold, and initiate testing by the CDC.
More than 3,000 deactivated travel trailers were already massed at the Jasper marshaling yard. They were being sold in lots in online government surplus auctions. Those sales were also halted, and according to Jacks, there are no plans to reinstate the auctions at this time.
According to the Newsboy, FEMA administrator R. David Paulison said flatly that FEMA will never again use travel trailers to house disaster victims, but may continue to use larger mobile homes.
FEMA is looking for alternative solutions, according to a Feb. 29 press release. The Joint Housing Solutions Group (JHSG) is reviewing alternative housing. Field teams from FEMA, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) have evaluated 40 different types of housing units from folding houses to converted shipping containers.
They will also look at the Gulf Coast cottages with front porches developed by the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP) for Katrina/Rita households.
"Among the lessons learned from Katrina and Rita are those that taught us that we need to be better prepared to house large numbers of individuals and families safely, securely and quickly after catastrophic disasters," said Carlos J. Castillo, an assistant administrator.
Indoor air quality is being addressed through specifications that require low-emission materials and better filtration and ventilation.
The ideal unit will be adaptable to various environments, handicap accessible, suitable for FEMA group sites or privately owned property, and able to be produced and deployed quickly.
