Posted on 01/21/2006 7:08:21 AM PST by Klatuu
If FEMA could distribute the fortune spent on trailers directly to those in need of housing, the recipients might find a much nicer place to live, and even have money left over for home repairs. But there's a catch: That's illegal
Those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and seeking a temporary trailer don't get to kick the tires or discuss financing plans, but a look at the ultimate sticker price might make them wish they could: $59,800.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
The article overlooks the reason for the trailers..... availability. Cost considerations are irrelevant when considering availability.
Reconstruction is going to take a long time and the folks can't live outside for t he duration. They need housing now.
60k would make a nice downpayment on a mortgage.
And the inflationary effect on local rental rates/ purchase prices when everyone has $100 k plus burning a hole in their pocket in a situ where demand exceeds supply.
.....60k would make a nice downpayment on a mortgage.....
Sounds good but in the real world, a mortage is worthless if the house is nonexistant and it is winter. Please recall there is an emergency and trailers are the most expedient method fo keeping residents in the area.
Lives are in the balance and the marginal costs are irrelevant.
But...as the people of Louisiana have already clearly stated, "NOT IN MY BACKYARD"!
Because there is a strong possiblity that many won't use the money for what it was intended for
The trailers you now see all over New Orleans are small, very small nothing like you would see in a trailer park.
think what could happen if twenty families members got together, filed claims for 60K and then walked away with 1.2 millon dollars - enough to start a small crime family or to expand one.
Right you are, just like the "outrage" about the cost of blue tarps. Sure, you could go to the home depot and buy the tarps for 10% of the cost that FEMA is spending, but try getting 20,000 of them plus crews to install them.
In many parts of the country, it would pay off the whole house.
In many cases, on the Gulf Coast of MS, people would LOVE to clear out debris and start rebuilding, but cannot do so because of disputes with insurance companies. Thus, they're stuck in trailers until the time comes when they CAN clear out and start over. As for finding a nicer place; the question is WHERE? They want to be near their property, but everyone else is in the same boat, and there are no rental units to be had because THEY were destroyed as well!
Good grief. I tried to read the article as carefully as possible, but are these trailers actually camping trailers? I thought they were at least single wides. However, I can't go along with just handing people cash. Some people can be totally irresponsible. There's got to be a better way of providing decent housing without wasting money like that.
As someone pointed out above, they're pretty small. I haven't seen the inside of one, but they are not luxurious in any sense. Pretty much a metal box with the bare necessities. Just eyeballing them, I'd say they're about one third the length of a single wide.
Because there is a strong possiblity that many won't use the money for what it was intended for
----I agree
---Thanks for the link. That pretty much confirms it. LOL
They are tiny, very poorly constructed and over priced.
http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4386162
Watch the video to see the trailers. Don't pay attention to the whining but the video does show what those "little" travel trailers are like for a big person.
Oh my no, these are the kind of trailers you haul to a camping ground. You can't possibly live in one for a long period of time, because the propane costs will kill you, if you don't end up killing each other. Where is that man's sons sleeping at night? At least the poor guy is trying to laugh about it.
I remember when I was married, we had a camper on a truck. That bed was the worst, but we only had to sleep on it two nights, and yes it beat a tent. Can't imagine living in that for maybe more than a week.
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