New Orleans moves to get rid of last FEMA trailers

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- The era of the FEMA trailer - a symbol of the prolonged rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina - might be drawing to a close in New Orleans.

Citing the remaining 221 trailers as blight, New Orleans officials have told the last remaining residents to be out by the start of 2011 or face steep fines.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/31/AR2010123100446.html

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What does FEMA expect? That Lil Wayne or Birdman will give free housing in their mansions?

[niyad]

1. be out by the start of 2011? that is tomorrow-- what are they supposed to do, as the rebuilding

efforts have been less than swift, public housing has been destroyed. . .

[Crazy Dave]

2. Good grief!

Those poor people thought things went bad under Bush, now they're getting shit on again and nobody cares :grr:

[felix_numinous]

3. 'Getting rid of the last Fema trailers'

makes it sound like they're empty, or not in use.

They cannot say they're kicking people out of their homes in the middle of winter.

[niyad]

4. those toxic dumps are actually occupied, in case you didn't read the article, or the last sentence

in the OP

[felix_numinous]

5. I was commenting on AP's

choice of a headline, it sounded so cold.

[delightfulstar]

6. The pockets of blight in NOLA are stunning...

The trailers have been omnipresent for so long, and I'm shocked they're still even there, given the mold issues, and the idea of someone having to live in a confined space like that for so long.

Most of the "help" seems to be from within the community. The people of the Lower 9th Ward, for example, didn't have easy access to grocery shopping in the area until the last several months, when a Farmer's Market was opened in the area. There has been some progress, but it's been terribly slow compared to other areas of town. It seems like the less-"touristy" areas have been largely forgotten. Sure, some of the dilapidated buildings have gradually been torn down, and some new development has happened, but there is still a lot of blight there too. I came across a very interesting time-lapse of Forstall St. in the Lower 9th, and it shows how devastated that community still is -- the most recent shots are from this past summer.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/27/us/lower9th-5year-anniversary.html

[robcon]

7. 5 years is enough for "temporary" shelter.

n/t

[-..__...]

8. Uhhh, FEMA has nothing to do with the evictions.

It's the city and Mayor Mitch Landrieu ("D", in case you're interested), that's ordering the move.