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Looking for a Mobile Home? FEMA has a Bunch

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GG Staff | 02/14/2008 - 16:37 | 1 comment

A trailer from Katrina may be more than you bargain for though

Courtesy KatrinaDestruction.comCourtesy KatrinaDestruction.comThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants people out of the chemical cocktail brewing in trailer homes used to house Katrina refugees.

 

If you act quickly, you might be able to score one for yourself.

The homes were originally a temporary measure, a quick fix until FEMA could find homes from the thousands of displaced victims.

Seems like someone forgot the meaning of the word "temporary."

After Katrina, FEMA used 144,000 trailers and mobile homes to shelter displaced victims. They've slowly been moving people out though and selling them off. Today, Louisiana still has more than 25,000 occupied FEMA trailers, and Mississippi has more 10,000, according to FEMA figures.

The CDC found that of the 519 trailer homes tested, formaldehyde fumes were 5 times higher than in most modern homes. Roughly 5% had levels high enough to cause breathing problems in children, the elderly and anyone who has respiratory issues.

Along with breathing problems, formaldehyde is a carcinogen, which paints a bleak future for people living in those homes.

FEMA Administrator, R. David Paulison, says that hotel rooms or pre-tested mobile homes will be used. "We're not going to give somebody a mobile home that tested high for formaldehyde."

Hmmm, and we should believe him, why? Paulison has also said they'll never again use mobile homes to house future disaster victims - but it's still okay to move Katrina victims into them? Just for now, of course.

And selling them off doesn't seem to have been a problem either.

Wonder what the market's like for used FEMA mobile homes?

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Comments

According to news reports

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/15/2008 - 07:09.
According to news reports this morning it could take as long as the summer to clear folks out of these trailers. Yesah FEMA's doing a great job alright....

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