Question: What is the status of all those mobile homes sent down to house people who lost their homes to hurricanes Katrina and Rita? I was told they are sitting on some wasteland rotting in the sun. Am I right?
Answer: About 10,000 mobile homes remain at a permanent storage facility at the Municipal Airport in Hope, Ark. But, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they're not rotting. The agency describes them as "habitable, available and properly maintained."
The trailers were originally intended for people who lost their homes to the two Gulf hurricanes. According to news reports, FEMA bought about 125,000 mobile homes for hurricane relief in 2005. For a variety of reasons, not all were used. By law, FEMA could only use them for disaster relief. Last October, the Homeland Security appropriations bill included language that lets FEMA sell or donate them to governments and nonprofits.
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