11,000 Kat(rina) trailers still sitting unused

[brooklynite]

BY KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Nearly three weeks after President Bush demanded to know what is being done with 11,000 mobile homes meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, the Daily News got the answer - nothing.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency told The News the plan is to keep them where they are, lined up at an airport in Hope, Ark.

And instead of using the trailers, FEMA has asked the Senate for $1.2 billion for "Katrina cottages" to house the hurricane's homeless. The cottages are small houses with front porches and air conditioning that - unlike trailers - are able to withstand winds of up to 130 mph.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/407307p-344833c.html

[marmar]

1. Clearly they are intentionally trying to flub this up...

to prove that you can't rely on government agencies, thus we must eliminate those agencies. FEMA is yet another piece of wreckage in Bush's America.

[struggle4progress]

2. Bingo. eom

[Richard Steele]

3. At this point, all other possible explanations have been eliminated.

This is not simple incompetence- this is deliberate.

[MasonJar]

4. Actually a news story weeks ago said that the trailers had sunk

into the ground and had been badly damaged. They probably are worth using anymore. Typical Bush at his "hard work." You just got to know Arkansas loves those 11,000 trailers abandoned in their state. That should be worth a few Democratic votes.

[Rex]

5. Someone CAN use those mobile homes and NOW.

A real POTUS would have gone down there, personally and fixed this mess. To bad Cheney would rather shoot people in the face and not help clean up his messes.

[jwirr]

9. I wasn't even in Katrina and I would be glad to have one of them

to live in.

[long_green]

6. heck, at UNO, where I go to school, there are several hundred

trailers sitting around with no people in them and not hooked up to anything.

[Bushies gotta go]

7. And everyday...

You can see them going by on I-40 through New Mexico, heading east. All of them with FEMA notices in the windows. Not only are they sitting them unused but they are bringing in more and more to sit unused.

[saddemocrat]

8. My brother

Went to New Orelans and helped build many of those trailers. He said at that time that there were thousands of trailers ready to use that were sitting on lots and that FEMA and all of the red tape was what was preventing them from being taken out for people. They argued that they didn't have the equipment to move them, didn't have adequate hook-ups, etc...but no one was actually able to organize these things. They started sinking into the ground because the tires started going flat...and some problems were due to vandalism.

Just like in Iraq, the govt. had a "plan" but just couldn't figure out how to implement it. Honestly, I don't know why our govt. is so inefficient. It's embarassing really!

[JPZenger]

10. Rush Rush Rush ... Wait

The manufacturers made a special effort to provide the trailers and mobile homes fast. Truck drivers hustled to get them delivered. States gave waivers to their regulations so the trailers could be delivered fast. Then they waited, and waited.

Meanwhile, thousands of households still don't have housing, and prices are inflated because of the housing shortage. Many people would have an easier time rebuiling if they could park a trailer in front of their home while they work on it.

As noted above, the trailers are now sinking into the mud. FEMA recently announced that they are spending millions to put asphalt under the trailers in Arkansas. They said they can use them for the next disaster.

A local mayor pushed for the small modular cottages because they are much more resistant to hurricanes than the trailers. She also said the electrical wiring in the trailers is not designed for 24 hour use by a family for years. She said the cottages don't cost more than FEMA's trailers. FEMA turned down the request because the cottages could be considered "permanent housing." This is from a story on NPR a couple weeks ago.

[uppityperson]

11. I thought they weren't going to do the cottages since they are more perman

more permanent and FEMA is only for emergency/temporary use. The cottages would be good. The trailers would be useful now, I agree, but the cottages seem a bit better. Neither will stand up to another hurricane, but good to see that they are working on the cottages too.

[CottonBear]

12. Just give people the goddamn mobile homes.

If they get blown away, give them another one. Just freaking do it. Give them a mobile home and maybe then help them build a house on their lot later and then take the home and give it to someone else who needs it later.

Jesus. My sister-in-law's roof isn't even repaired after all this time and her home wasn't flooded. It had massive tree damge to one part of it and that even isn't freaking fixed yet.
:grr:

[Old Vet]

13. These trailers are desperately needed still-

Returned from third deployment with Red Cross a few weeks ago and trust me DESPERATE doesnt even begin to cover it!

[salin]

14. stunning that they still sit idle

and people still are trying to survive without structural shelters... but hey - Bush is working hard to get more tax cuts on investments and capital gains! :sarcasm:

Great work that you are doing Old Vet. :thumbsup:

[magellan]

15. Another problem: the trailers are an "eyesore"

"But FEMA didn't expect the trailers to be rejected by communities in flood plains, as well as in areas that complained they are an unwelcome eyesore."

This is a highly disingenuous excuse for yet another despicable act of negligence by the government. If it were me, I'd tell the affluent bastards living in their gated communities to go F*CK themselves as I parked homes on every available lot. Then I'd post security to look after every displaced family until proper new homes were built.

Where are your moral values, you pathetic dipshits.

[killbotfactory]

16. This is why you don't elect republicans

When you elect people who don't believe the government can properly manage anything, will do all they can to prove themselves right.

[Vinca]

17. If FEMA isn't going to use the darn things,

I wish they would auction them off so the taxpayer's might get a few bucks back out of this deal. If they continue to sit there, mired in mud, there won't be a one that's structurally sound enough to live in. It boggles the mind how totally incompetent this government is.

[lonestarnot]

18. Anyone else see the report wherein the richie rich man's house that

suffered little damage by Katrina (still habitable) on TV HAVING A COW because he had to "look out his window and see trailers?" Well gee. Do you want your eggs over easy or sunnyside up? FEMA had already spent over a million dollars preparing the site for residents to move in and this fuck is now blocking the use of this land. Wants them to be relocated. FEMA suing the city over the delay and uproar.

[rigel434]

19. We'll likely need them this hurricane season

I don't have a problem with this- the way global warming is heading, we'll need more trailers this hurricane season. Perhaps as replacement trailers in Miss and La since even a category 1 can demolish the trailers down there.

[superconnected]

20. Who gets the 1.2 billion for the cottages.

That's the only thing FEMA cares about.

[Supersedeas]

21. One Word: Incompetence