|
WE NEED HOMES NOW, LOUISIANA TELLS FEMA -- AGENCY MOVING TOO SLOWLY, STATE OFFICIALS SAY |
|
by Ed Anderson and Robert Travis Scott
NOLA.com Staff writer September 15, 2005 BATON ROUGE – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is moving too slowly to bring temporary housing into Louisiana for displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina, state officials said Sunday. Col. Jeff Smith, deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said that with tens of thousands of Louisiana residents in evacuation centers in the state and more dispersed around the country, FEMA has not moved swiftly enough to bring in trailers and mobile homes or find vacant apartments or homes for the displaced victims. "We have a main concern with temporary housing,’’ Smith said. "We don’t feel that process is moving fast enough. There needs to be trailers rolling and things happening that just aren’t happening . . . This is truly a national issue.’’ In response, FEMA spokesman David Passey said Sunday that the agency is forming a housing task force and has provided travel trailers for 10 families in Patterson, a small town in St. Mary Parish. He said hundreds of trailers and manufactured homes are on the way. "The effort is progressing quite well," Passey said. To set up temporary housing, the agency must locate large sites capable of providing electricity, water and sewerage, Passey said. Smith said temporary, long-term housing is needed immediately so Louisiana residents can start to return to the state. Smith said two weeks after disasters struck in other states, FEMA had temporary housing for the displaced. Last year, Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley hit Florida in mid-August, followed by Hurricanes Frances on Sept. 4, Ivan on Sept 16 and Jeanne on Sept 25. On Sept. 20 last year, FEMA reported that 1,082 manufactured homes were in place as temporary housing for displaced families, of which 447 were occupied at that time. Mark Smith, public information officer for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the state will need housing in the form of trailers, mobile homes or apartments. "They (FEMA officials) are planning," Smith said. "Our (state) leaders would like to see a little less planning and a little more action." As of Sunday, there were more than 48,000 evacuees housed in Louisiana shelters, and more than 70,000 in shelters around the nation. Others are at churches or other private centers or living with friends and relatives. The state has offered to put trailers or mobile homes in all state parks. Col. Smith said FEMA wants the state to come up with an estimate of the number of homeless and how many housing units will be needed, but Smith said because of the enormity of the situation, that is not yet possible. The colonel called on FEMA to "start thinking outside the box’’ on creative ways to move housing into the state. FEMA owns hundreds of housing units stationed in Fort Worth, Texas, and at sites east of New Orleans, Passey said. The agency probably will have to procure more units to fill the need, he said. The aim is to set up housing as close as possible to the communities where people normally live, he said. Passey could not provide specific figures Sunday afternoon on FEMA’s temporary housing supply. Meanwhile, Passey said, a substantial amount of temporary housing has been provided for public officials and emergency personnel dealing with the storm’s aftermath. A cruise ship in New Orleans is housing public safety and essential public workers, while 400 housing units in Slidell are available to first responders, those dealing with the storm’s immediate effects. And public officials in New Orleans are using 300 housing units provided by the federal government, he said. People interested in obtaining temporary housing can visit the Web site www.DHRonline.org, Passey said. |
