AP: La. Trailer Park Shut by FEMA

[Eugene]

La. Trailer Park Shut by FEMA

By CAIN BURDEAU
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 4, 2007; 10:07 PM

HAMMOND, La. -- FEMA abruptly closed down a site housing Hurricane Katrina
victims Sunday because of health and safety concerns, and its weary residents
said they were being left in the lurch once again since losing everything
in the storm.

A 48-hour deadline to leave fell on Sunday night, and FEMA scrambled to find
new places for the 58 households.

Although many residents said they would have been happy to keep on living
there, the Federal Emergency Management Agency determined it was too risky
because of ongoing problems with raw sewage and periodic power outages.

-snip-

By late Sunday, 48 of the 58 households had places to go to, with many of
those households moving on to other FEMA sites, the agency said. The 10
remaining were still in search of housing, Broussard said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401459.html

The trailer park had problems for over a year before FEMA's urgent action.

[uppityperson]

1. another article on it, link, brief bit here

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/6295112.html

(clip)...
The reason for the abrupt move is because the health and safety issues at the FEMA trailer park off Old Baton Rouge Highway in Hammond have gotten so bad that FEMA doesn’t believe residents should remain there another day, said FEMA spokesman Ronnie Simpson. Simpson said that there are open ditches containing raw sewage on the property and the electricity has been shut off three times because the trailer park owners haven’t paid the bills. “That’s just no way to treat people,” Simpson said.

The park made up of 61 two-bedroom trailers is owned by Frank Bonner and Ken Albin of Baton Rouge. FEMA pays them about $40,000 a month to lease the space to the hurricane evacuees, Bonner and Albin said.

Typically, FEMA leases space from private landowners at a per trailer rate. Out of these fees, the owner is expected to pay for utilities and provide services such as garbage pickup. Simpson said FEMA’s contract on the Hammond park likely would be cancelled sometime this week after the trailers are moved off the property. Simpson said FEMA contractors must wait until Monday to obtain permits to move the trailers, and the trailers will likely be removed from the property on Tuesday....

(clip)
But De Great, who was evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city Aug. 29, 2005, said that she does not want to leave the trailer home in which she has been living for nearly two years — she just wants the problems fixed. Her neighbor, Ron Harold, said that he understands why FEMA is moving the residents out. He said that he just wishes FEMA would have given more notice, such as 30 days, instead of 48 hours. “We’re not blaming FEMA for this,” Harold said. “But somebody should have noticed the problem sooner.”

Harold said that what concerns him about the move is that the trailer park’s evacuee children attending Hammond schools are poised to take state standardized tests in coming weeks. He said he is concerned about how such a move will affect those who must pass these tests in order to be promoted to the next grade.(more@link)

[catnhatnh]

2. Gee...you would think an emergency agency...

...would of heard of shit wagons (sewerage pumping trucks) and generators.....