A large surplus after Rita has left FEMA singing....
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Newsboy photo/Charles Kerr BUYERS LINE UP to look at the FEMA trailers that are up for auction. More than 3,000 trailers in Jasper are being auctioned off in lots weekly until they are all sold.

The buzz in Jasper County these days is about buying FEMA trailers for pennies on the dollar, but FEMA representative Don Jacks says it's about helping families who have not been able to get back on their feet, and it makes sense financially.

FEMA is offering residents who are still living in their units the chance to purchase them for $300 to $350.

After the hurricanes of 2005, FEMA spent $2.7 billion to buy 145,000 travel trailers to meet urgent housing needs. That works out to about $19,000 per unit.

The government now has 60,000 returned units in inventory to sell as government surplus (see FEMA auction story), but many people are still living in these cramped quarters almost two years later.

Jacks was in Beaumont Friday to help oversee selling trailers to people still living in them. "This tells us they have not been able to complete repairs on their home, so we're giving them breathing space while they finish repairs.

"The deadline for the housing program has been extended to March 2009," Jacks said. However, starting March 2008, FEMA will charge $50 rent the first month and increase it $50 each month, up to a maximum of $600 per month.

"We're being very upfront with families. If they purchase it, they

assume ownership along with taxes, sales tax, and moving it if required by their municipality.

"We do no more maintenance, which saves us the contractor fees to go out and repair things," Jacks said.

It also saves the government the cost of picking up the units, inspecting them and putting them into inventory, and the auction and accounting costs that follow.

Many people ask why FEMA doesn't refurbish trailers for the next disaster, but Jacks says the cost of repair, storage and hauling individual units makes it impractical.

A Jasper County employee in Willie Stark's Precinct 3 just bought his trailer last Friday, June 20. He said there were no restrictions other than he has to transfer title, pay sales tax, "and if I want to pull it on the road, I have to license it."

Newsboy photos/Charles Kerr WHILE THE INSIDE of some FEMA trailers are in good condition, pictured above top, the outside of this trailer is being held together by duct tape.

Buyers are also advised by FEMA to read a short flyer on formaldehyde. Various news sources have called the trailers "toxic tin cans" and reported that formaldehyde levels (from particleboard, glue and other materials) can reach as much as 75 times higher than permissible levels for an adult's workplace exposure to formaldehyde.

There are no standards for what exposure is acceptable for children.

"It may cause symptoms similar to that of the common cold or flu," according to the flyer. "People with eye, skin, respiratory, or allergic conditions and those with asthma are potentially more susceptible... Children and the elderly may be more sensitive."

The flyer does not warn that formaldehyde has been classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, but it does advise you can reduce exposure by not smoking inside, lowering humidity and temperature, and increasing ventilation.

The bottom line, Jacks said, is that it was never intended that families live in these units this long. Scarcity of labor and the high cost of building materials were caused when an unprecedented number of homes were destroyed over such a large geographic area. It is taking longer than anyone anticipated for people to get back into permanent housing, according to Jacks.

"We want to provide options for families, and incentives for them to move ahead," Jacks said.