FEMA STILL hasn't sent hurrican victims mobile homes

[gatorboy]

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/1205/285018.html

Thousands of mobile homes are piling up at a local airport, and right now, they have no place to go.
 
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is using the Hope, Arkansas airport in Hempstead County as a temporary holding ground for the mobile homes.
 
Many homes have not made it to where they are needed most.  
<snip>

On January 7th, FEMA will no longer pay for hotels, meaning evacuees will have to find another place to live.
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I understand that this article is dated but give a better idea of what I had seen over the wekend.

My family and I took a trip to Old Washington, Arkansas Friday night. When we finally arrived at nightfall, it was too dark to see the surrounding area so I didn't give it much thought. Saturday though we drove back through to Hope to pick up a few things. Along the way, I noticed thousands of what at first looked like storage buildings set up at the Hope Airport. And I mean literally thousands. of these things, taking up at least a mile in space. Dozens of rows of these things. I have never seen anything like it.

Upon closer inspection, I realized they were mobile homes. and around that time we came to a barb-wired gate with FEMA signs set at the front. There were a couple of dozen individual's there keeping an eye on who came in and out. Realizing that these were the mobile homes that were set up for the hurricane victims, I wondered why I didn't actually see anyone else besides the FEMA officials. No one was using them. Thousands of these homes have apparently sat there for months!

As the article stated, the cut off date to help evacuees' hotel payments was January 7th. Now these people are stranded. The gov't has thousands of reliable homes sitting in an airport field. That in itself is outrageous, but the idea that our gov't pays for these homes then sits on them is mind boggling, this administration and it's cronies are the biggest spenders of waste I have ever seen! I'm seriously considering driving back over the weekend to get some shots so everyone can get a better grasp on just how many of these homes are just sitting out there....

[babylonsister]

1. I believe there was an extension put on the

stay in the hotel rooms, but I also think people are still living in tents, in the cold, in January. :grr: This is a national disgrace!

[EFerrari]

2. This government is guilty of criminal negligence.

:kick:

[Igel]

3. The Monday after this broke, I think it was,

NPR's ME interviewed some FEMA person. This came up; the response was that these trailers had been used, the people had moved on/out, and the trailers were waiting inspection. The issue was whether any needed work before redeployment, or whether some should be junked.

I couldn't find a reference to the report on Google, and didn't see it in any printed source.

[gatorboy]

5. I'm not how true that can be.

These homes looked very new. None of them look used or even moved. I also was just talking about this with a co-worker in the office who had had just drove through Hope a week ago and noticed that they were bringing in more new mobile homes...

[babylonsister]

18. I've read and heard there are unused trailers as a result of FEMA

ineptness, but many people need one.
Who/what is NPR's ME?
The trailers had been used? Katrina hit in Aug/Sept 05, 4 months ago, and the trailers were 'done'?:wtf:

[Igel]

30. Morning Edition.

Whoever the reporter was, that was the claim. Might be true. Might not be true. The claim against FEMA was short on facts and long on speculation, and the reporters mostly were reporting second hand.

The day the FEMA guy made his statement the story essentially vanished from the MSM. Whether it was because reporters could get no hard facts, because the reporters couldn't be bothered to try to get hard facts, or because the story was debunked, I have no way of knowing.

[pitohui]

4. there is still an issue of where the trailers will be placed

if you don't have utilities at your own house, they won't give you a trailer, you have to get a relative or friend who has utilities to allow you to put the trailer at their place, otherwise FEMA won't hook up

some people even have two trailers hooked up to their house, for their displaced relatives

people who don't have any family members who were not also wiped out have a big problem because there is all kinds of controversy about where to place the trailer parks

reports of crime waves in florida evacuee trailer parks came at a bad time, otherwise, i think most people would understand people displaced by natural disaster are not criminals and are not going to contribute to crime, it is not like setting up a community of no-hopers who will never move elsewhere because they have no future, the hurricane victims just need a place to stay so they can take one of the jobs that are going begging and get to work rebuilding their houses and their lives, but everyone is afraid and there's a lot of nimby-ism blocking the placement of the trailers

the media has been less than helpful at times, i have no idea if florida trailer parks are the horrible little crime sprees described in the press but even if they are, how is it helpful to lean on this crap now?

[Maddy McCall]

12. Yes. Crime is prevalent in the FEMA trailer parks.

Propane bottles stolen, no kind of security at all provided...it's freakin' hell for the people who live in the parks.

Thing about Biloxi is that many people's whole families lived on the coast and lost their homes. Therefore, they have nowhere to set up, unless they agree to go to one of the FEMA parks, which is not a great option.

[pitohui]

34. right this can be a big problem in louisiana also

my husband talked to a customer whose family lost 30 houses, can you imagine

one of my friends, his family lost 7 houses

families with long-time roots in st. bernard or lakeview may have lost every house or every house except maybe one or two in western st. tammany

cameron parish, again, generations wiped out

blanco is talking abt getting nat'l guard to protect the trailer parks, since orleans and other broke parishes can't afford the police officers, the trailer parks damn well should be properly protected so that decent people don't become prey to a few drunks, bullies, or bad apples

unfortunately it seems that *co wants to deny our state, which is already broke, any chance at funds or help

even the baker bill, suggested by a republican, has been shot down in flames

i'm disgusted and no longer consider myself a citizen of the united states

[schmuls]

6. If the current administration did something right, it would be a shock

[mogster]

7. Kick for merh!

:-)

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Whomever is running FEMA now

are just awful bastards. :mad: They're purposley doing this and doing nothing for them. :mad: Selfish greedy bastards.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. Actually, there are a lot of them down in the hurricane area...

I've talked to several mortgagors we have down there in the last week or so that are living in their FEMA Trailer on their property. Sure, everyone may not have them, but there are a lot down there.
Duckie

[Maddy McCall]

11. Those who "know people" get the trailers first.

The poorest with little political pull are the ones still without trailers. Some of them are living in freezing weather in tents.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. Maddy, I'm sorry to tell you this...

But most of our mortgagors are fairly poor. I know that most of the people I talked to have little to no political pull. I think that's a really bad, biased statement. I don't think it's fair.
Duckie

[Maddy McCall]

15. I know what I'm talking about.

I will say that my info is dated, but for the first month or two, the only people with trailers were those who had a pipeline to the PTB.

It's not a biased statement. It may be different now, but in the beginning--the first couple of months--the people with trailers were those with connections.

Merh can back me up on this.

Edit to add: Your definition of poor and my definition of poor are probably two diffent things. Poor in Mississippi means unemployed, living in federally subsidized housing, below the poverty line. A mortgage broker in Mississippi would hardly be considered poor, and certainly not living below the Mississippi poverty line.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

26. I didn't say mortgage broker. I said Mortgagor...

The person who buys a house with money they borrowed from a bank or mortgage company.
Duckie

[pitohui]

32. pull can come in different flavors

one of the first people i know to get a trailer is poor financially, as she is a music teacher, but apparently she has some recognition nationally for her music and she was able to get a trailer as soon as she found a relative who had utilities available for hook-up

also a great many employees of a sugar plant were able to get immediate trailer housing on the sight of the plant, because usda put in the pull for them to process the sugar spoiled by rita and katrina, before it became worthless

you don't necessarily have to be rich to have pull, but you do have to have some perceived importance to someone to get to the head of the line

[lastliberalintexas]

31. There are some, but there are still far too many people living in tents

I can only personally speak of SE Texas, but we still have tent cities down here. FEMA's not doing jack for many people, especially if one happens to be poor.

[Maddy McCall]

10. I live near !-55. I think you mean "trailers" instead of "mobile homes"

I think you are talking about camper trailers instead of mobile homes.

Anytime I travel on I-55, I see dozens of FEMA trailers being pulled by dozens of pick-up-truck dualies, headed south.

I think the problem may be the manner or transportation that FEMA has decided to use for these trailers. It seems to me that it would make much more sense, economically and time-wise, to put them on train cars or on deisel lo-boys to bring them south IN QUANTITY. It seems wasteful to pay one driver to pull one trailer for hundreds of miles, when FEMA could pay freight to bring hundreds of the trailers south. Or one trucker a fee to bring three or four trailers south.

Aren't you talking about camper trailers?

And hurricane refugees now have until February to leave hotels. What's sad is that it really makes no difference whether it is February or January, because many people have NOWHERE to go.

[uppityperson]

17. I used to think "mobile home" too but these are small travel trailers

small, few windows to cut down costs and make them fast to produce. Now they sit. Kick for people in trailers and people who are in tents and want trailers and for people helping and for everyone in need.

[Maddy McCall]

22. Last I heard, there were thousands of these camper trailers staged at...

Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS, about 70 miles north of Biloxi, to be delivered. I don't know if that's still the case, though.

[gatorboy]

19. They do have some camper trailers. But a majority are mobile homes.

5,000 of them.

http://www.wmcstations.com/global/story.asp?s=4227761&ClientType=Printable

LITTLE ROCK New stats from FEMA show that thousands of empty mobile homes the agency ordered to house refugees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina now sit empty at sites near Texarkana and Hope.

In total, FEMA ordered 20 thousand mobile homes after Katrina for displaced families. The cost was more than 500 (m) million dollars. But as of last week only 889 were occupied and more than 10,000 were empty with about half of those near Arkansas cities.

Specifically, trailers were housed since the order went through at the Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant west of Texarkana and in early October FEMA started storing the trailers at the Hope Municipal Airport _ where the agency is paying 25 thousands dollars a month for the storage space.

James McIntyre, a FEMA spokesman, said five thousand 840 mobile homes and 80 travel trailers are at Hope and the Texarkana sites.
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Now if I can talk the wife into making the trip, I'll get some pics of the area on Sunday. :)

[Maddy McCall]

21. WOW. I wonder who gets those?

I've seen FEMA trailers everywhere, but I don't know anyone who's received a mobile home yet. It costs a good chunk of money to set up a house trailer. I wonder if FEMA is doing the set-up or if the residents have to have it done.

I'd love to see the photos. What a pisser that those homes are sitting where no one can use them.

Hey, here's a little tidbit. Did you know that mobile homes were not names so because they are mobile, but because they were first manufactured in Mobile, Alabama? I found that tidbit on snopes last year. Everytime a conversation develops in which someone mentions a mobile home, I tell them that little factoid. :)

[uppityperson]

24. Here's a picture and some and bits from websites about size & #s

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/katrinahousing.shtm

Biloxi Ms., October 4, 2005 -- Emergency Temporary Housing Facility for disaster victims from Hurricane Katrina. FEMA is providing temporary emergency housing like these travel trailers in Biloxi, Mississippi. John Fleck/FEMA


http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=20349
Weekly Katrina Response Update for Mississippi, this one is for Nov 4, 2005
The categories are: Declared County, Applications for Assistance,Housing Assistance,Other Needs Assistance,Blue Roofs Installed,Travel Trailers,DRC visits,Projected Public Assistance project worksheet,Debris Removal in cubic yards

Jan 17, 2006 (MS)
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=22520

Over 32,000 travel trailers and 400 mobile homes are now occupied by hurricane victims in the state. Most of the travel trailers are placed in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River counties.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=22381

More Than 31,000 Families Now Housed In Fema Travel Trailers In Mississippi

Release Date: January 11, 2006
Release Number: 1604-206
Printer friendly version icon

JACKSON, Miss. –- More than 31,000 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina last August in Mississippi are now housed in new travel trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in partnership with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). In addition, 403 families have been relocated to mobile homes throughout the affected areas.

“FEMA and MEMA are making great strides in providing trailers and mobile homes to people whose homes were destroyed or made unsafe to live in until repairs are made,” said Nick Russo, federal coordinating officer for the disaster.

More than 85,000 people are now in these safe and secure living quarters, located primarily on private property but also at Emergency Group Sites (EGS) that accommodate from 10-200 manufactured housing units. Currently there are more than 38,000 travel trailers and almost 3,000 mobile homes in Mississippi. More than 10,500 were purchased from Mississippi- certified small dealerships at a price tag of about $203 million.

Finally, from NOLA.com
http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/library-94/1137827183222050.xml?nola

TRAILER CASH
If FEMA could distribute the fortune spent on trailers directly to those in need of housing, the recipients might find a much nicer place to live, and even have money left over for home repairs. But there's a catch: That's illegal
Saturday, January 21, 2006
By James Varney
Staff writer

Those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and seeking a temporary trailer don't get to kick the tires or discuss financing plans, but a look at the ultimate sticker price might make them wish they could: $59,800.

That's the cost to taxpayers for the trailer's 18-month "life cycle," according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If FEMA offered the cash instead to hurricane victims, they might be able to spend the $3,322 per month in New Orleans on some housing more enticing than a box on wheels.

If you get pictures, please post them. Thanks.

[pitohui]

33. sure they're talking abt the trailers, gotta be

i don't know anyone getting an entire mobile home either, there is not even room for such on some properties if you also want to have room for the dumpster and access for the contractor working to do repairs

[ClayZ]

14. I heard about some FEMA workers,

a couple, who are staying in a condo LA. I was told their quarters cost the government $150.00 each, per night. That is $9,000.00 per month for their lodging. And the people they are HELPING are still in tents.. SOMETHING STINKS!

[Maddy McCall]

16. Can you believe that the best our government can offer many...

is tent cities? You and three other people share a tent, and you have no idea who your roommates are. If you don't like them, you put a tarp up between you and them.

Here's what's absolutely wicked. Many of the FEMA tent cities are planning to put their residents in trailers and then close immediately before the Febrary 7th hotel deadline. That means that many of the refugees who have been staying in hotels will not even be able to come back to the Coast and stay in tent cities. It's a way of saying a big FUCK YOU to the refugees.

I tell ya, I wouldn't want help from someone paying $9000/month to stay in a condo while I lived in a tent.

[Imagevision]

20. Part of this country is wounded and Bush doesn't do jackshit!

How freegin far will this current administration going to go before the other god damned other shoe drops! Bushco response to Hurricane and all this schmuck comes up with is claiming to want to know what went wrong?? -- 3200+ still unaccounted for in NO.

[lavenderdiva]

23. Did anyone see the NBC national news tonight?

They were broadcasting from New Orleans, and in the particular piece on the situation in N.O. Versus the situation in Mississippi, they were interviewing Mississippians who thought the federal government and news had abandoned them, as they were rarely ever mentioned on the news- it was mainly all about rebuilding New Orleans. Well, well, well. They did some checking, and Mississippi (who voted Republican) has received over 30,000 trailers, while New Orleans (who voted Democratic) has received just about 2,000. Mississippi is also scheduled to receive approximately the same amount of money from the feds as Louisiana, yet it did not sustain the vast damage as did Louisiana (I do not mean to detract from the severe damage it did sustain, but Louisiana's damage was much broader). NBC (David Gregory was doing the reporting--gotta love him!) also said that Mississippi has the people in place to play the right politics to get the money and help, and are already receiving a lot of help, compared to Louisiana. Its the first time I've heard on MSM, so blunt a report-- it was refreshing to hear the truth, as disspiriting as it was.

[gatorboy]

25. I think this is why they've been holding off on these mobile homes.

What better way to skeem the Democrats out of office in Louisiana than to hold off on some of the provisions promised to the hurrican victims?

They may say that there is red tape involved, but just as you mentioned, Mississippi had NO problem setting up 30,000 trailers. But Louisiana does? I don't buy it.
This helps the Louisiana Democrats look bad and certainly helps the Republicans try to bring in a stronger presence there

[earth mom]

27. Agree with you totally and it is infuriating!

:grr:

[pitohui]

36. well this is the motive, gatorboy

they have dispersed the black democratic voter and are busily creating all the ill will and blame they can

[XOKCowboy]

29. I'll be damned. MSN (and especially NBC)

got it right. The truth is that both the Gulf Coast and NOLA are just plain off the map now. It is good to see NBC trying to remind people that we HAD A CATASTROPHE down there. Remember?

[pitohui]

35. this is true and very sad

say what you like abt trent lott, he's an old dude w. lots of friend and seniority, in a situation like this he can help pull $$$ into mississippi -- and they need every penny of what they are getting

it was a sad day for louisiana when john breaux retired, mary has done an admirable job, but she simply does not have the seniority or the same power or contacts breaux had in getting the $$$, maybe one day as she gets more nat'l recognition but this came too soon

our new republican senator david vitter is worthless for anything except getting his prostitutes pregnant, if he has every done anything useful during his short stay in the senate i'm completely unaware of it

when people ask why states don't vote the bums out, often the reason is that the people don't want to give up a senator w. seniority, many here bitched abt breaux and said good riddance, but be honest, we'd sure as hell be better off if he were still in office, a man's allowed to get old and retire, but it's just bad timing this had to happen during a time when our state had no senior senators

[gatorboy]

37. And the excuse before? Saturated ground...

http://www.wwl.com/Article.asp?id=131201&spid=

<10-11-05 4:00pmCDT>

The mayor of Hope, Arkansas, has signed a  $600,000 agreement with FEMA that will allow airport runways to
be used to store manufactured homes en route to New Orleans.  FEMA says the goal is to get as many of the
homes to south Louisiana as possible. However, they say there is a hold up in New Orleans because the
ground is still saturated and cannot support the new homes.

But now, Six weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the water's finally been pumped out of New Orleans. The
Army Corps of Engineers says there may be a ''little puddle here and there'' -- but that otherwise, the
city is clear of the flooding brought by Katrina and then Hurricane Rita.


The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA today announced plans for a competitive contracting strategy
for ongoing recovery work for the Gulf Coast hurricanes. The dual track competitive bidding
strategy will place a priority on local and small disadvantaged businesses, as well as on the use of
local and small businesses as subcontractors for national open competition contracts. For more
information log onto w-w-w-dot-rebuilding thegulf coast-dot-gov.   
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I think this further proves that there's something up. The agreement here seems to be that the mobile homes located in Hope are almost entirely for New Orleans relief. And that the reason they were not being moved last year was because of the wet grounds. Well the water's been pumped out, yet thousands of these mobile homes still sit at the airport in Hope, Arkansas...

[XOKCowboy]

28. I've got a couple of friends from OK working in NOLA

putting up trailers. Setting them on the slabs, anchoring them and hooking up the the plumbing/electrical which is already in place. They are making really good money. They are paid per trailer installed plus hotel and $50 per diem. He said they're averaging about 3 per day for his 3 man crew. This is good money for an Okie but it's really nothing a NOLA resident couldn't do. I'd think they'd have more incentive to get the housing up too.

Face it. Katrina is long forgotten thanks to the Rove Machine. The residents of the Gulf Coast and NOLA are all but forgotten while the vultures pick over them.