FEMA trailers still dot countryside in Jasper
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Newsboy photo/Charles Kerr FEMA TRAILERS can still be found throughout Jasper and Jasper County two years after Hurricane Rita's arrival on the Southeast Texas coast. FEMA officials estimate 923 families in Southeast Texas are still living in FEMA trailers after Rita.

In the last three months of 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) faced an unprecedented problem with thousands of displaced families across the entire Gulf coast from Texas to Florida due to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

With inadequate housing to meet the immediate need, FEMA purchased travel trailers by the thousands. In New Orleans and Mississippi, FEMA cities sprang up overnight, but in East Texas the trailers were generally set up on the resident's property and hooked into the city sewer or septic while people waited for insurance settlements or assistance to repair their homes.

FEMA spokesperson Don Jacks reports, "On the second anniversary of Hurricane Rita's landfall, FEMA is still providing disaster housing assistance to 923 families living in temporary housing (travel trailers) in Southeast Texas. FEMA is also providing rental assistance for 727 families in Southeast Texas apartments."

Jacks also said that on Dec. 1 the Department of Housing and Urban Development is due to assume the disaster housing program from FEMA and will continue to provide rental assistance until March 1, 2009.

"At that time, any families still needing help will be directed to area Family Services Agencies, voluntary organizations and faith-based groups," Jacks said.

FEMA was in the process of auctioning off thousands of temporary trailers from residents who had already transitioned back into permanent housing when concerns about the effects of long-term exposure to formaldehyde suspended sales. Formaldehyde is prevalent in many building materials, but in the tight confines of a trailer, fumes build up and concerns were raised, especially for children, pregnant women and those who are susceptible to breathing problems.

Sales of FEMA trailers were halted in July, and at this time, thousands of trailers remain in inventory in places like the Jasper Marshalling Yard.