FEMA trailers trashed by users - 1,200 of the temporary units have been so badly damaged....

Houston Chronicle ^ | 11/01/2006 | TERRI LANGFORD

[Responsibility2nd]

Note to Hurricane Rita survivors: Please don't beat up the FEMA trailers, use them as meth labs or cart them off to your deer lease during hunting season.

More than 1,200 of the one-bedroom travel trailers issued to people displaced by Rita have been torn up so badly that serious repairs have been necessary, according to a statement Tuesday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"They're certainly not for long-term living, and we at FEMA better understand that better than anybody," said Don Jacks, an agency spokesman in Austin.

4,600 trailers issued

In Texas, more than 4,600 of the one-bedroom trailers were issued free of charge to those made homeless by the Category 3 hurricane when it hit Sabine Pass on Sept. 24, 2005.

Today, about 3,000 of the trailers — which cost federal taxpayers $20,000 each — remain in use in Texas. So far, about 1,200 have suffered so much vandalism they had to be sent to FEMA repair centers in Texas and Arkansas, Jacks said.

One trailer had more than 300 cigarette burns. Another was burned to the ground. Hundreds of others have torn cushions, broken doors, torn-up refrigerators and myriad problems.

Used as drug labs

Then there's the illegal use issue.

Some of the trailers issued to Hurricane Rita and Katrina evacuees have been used as drug labs. One Texas man trucked his to Louisiana and sold it. A few other tenants have hooked them up to vehicles and even taken their trailers to deer leases to have a place to stay while hunting.

"They are rare instances," Jacks said of the hunters. "You shake your head and wonder, 'What are they thinking?'"

Jacks said residents need to understand that vandalizing or removing the trailers could violate their written agreements with FEMA.

That said, only five Rita victims have been removed from trailers for violating those agreements, according to FEMA.

[TChris]

Oh, there's a big surprise! I think I'm gonna have a heart attack and DIE from that surprise!

[Abby4116]

Looks like cheap, cheap construction. Tears up easily. Folks don't generally live in trailers like these for more than a few days/weeks at a time, but these folks were LIVING in them for months and months. I can believe that they have been damaged quite a bit. Lean against one of those walls, and you'll put a hole through it. Open a cabinet door too aggressively, and the thing breaks off. There's a difference between good, durable construction and cheap construction. The cheap stuff is cheap for a reason.

Such cheap construction that mine that was new is 1989 has been lived in summers every year since then, with 3 growing children and grandchildren, whatever dogs we had over the years, and I have yet to see a hole in the wall or a cabinet door broken off.

[zerosix]

"To: Responsibility2nd If you work hard and study hard, you'll do well. If you don't, well, you'll get stuck in a FEMA trailer............

Er, should that read, "If you refuse to work, watch daytime soaps, deal drugs, commit crimes - you too can trash mobile homes meant for the truly needy.", signed Your DemocRAT Party Leaders.

[Night Hides Not]

If you work hard and study hard, you'll do well. If you don't, well, you'll get stuck in a FEMA trailer............

How about:

If you work hard and study hard, you'll do well. If you don't, well, then all your base are belong to us.

[GretchenM]

Alternate Headline:

Louisiana Citizens More Destructive Than "Katrina"


This seems to be the routine when the US government becomes a landlord.

[GretchenM]

Good for you.

I have some dear friends, long-term friends, from whom I rented a house many years ago. I was very weak with mono when I was moving out so instead of cleaning it myself, I paid a friend to do the heavy duty things, such as the oven, floors, etc. Normally I would do that myself.

When my landlord friends came over to get the keys (they hadn't required a deposit), they were almost dumbstruck. The husband pointed to the large bandage on his wife's leg (she had on shorts), said she had just had surgery on it, and they were not in a position to be able to clean the house at the time to put it up for rent again and that, because of the way I was leaving it, they could rent it that day. He said they'd never had anyone leave it in the same or better condition -- till I moved out. It did a lot for our friendship. To me, it was just being a good steward, and what I would hope anyone would do. Sadly, not so.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

You are speculating as to the motives of those who violated their government contracts, attributing to them altruistic virtues they may not have.

There is disgusting waste throughout government. That is the nature of government bureaucracy. Some of it is organized and planned, some of it is stolen, but most of it is just the nature of bureaucracy and human nature, too.

If you recall the political atmosphere around Katrina and Rita you will remember that the media was playing the situation for all it was worth to hurt Bush and the Republicans and protecting the Democrats in the process. The crux of the original delay was that in order for a state of emergency to be declared, thereby triggering federal government assistance, the governor of the state must declare the emergency and request the aid. Until then, the President cannot legally act.

Governor Blanco and her Democrat inner circle delayed the request while they argued over who would control the money, them or FEMA. During this time the media was showing all the destruction and flooding and demanding that someone, specifically President Bush, do something. It was not the easiest environment in which to operate.

After the crucial three day delay, while the local and state politicians bungled the whole process, the aid was requested and hurriedly sent. Such massive relief on such short notice, much of it not needed it was later determined, brought about the inevitable screwups.

The governor could have sent the Louisiana National Guard in immediately had she wanted. The underlying current of the whole disaster was to discredit Bush and the Republicans and to put hundreds of billions of dollars in the hands of the Democrat insiders. Remember Senator Landreaux requested $200,000,000,000.

To continue to pound this dead horse is pointless, IMO.

[HamiltonJay]

haha.. Nah, can't say that I do.. but it was just too good to pass up.. maybe I can start freelancing.. certainly can't be worse that a lot of em out there.

[2Jedismom]

Exactly...

It was a part of my Christian witness.

Oh...I found the FEMA trailers, for anyone interested:

FEMA TRAILERS:

http://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/gsaauctions/

Click on Trailers and Tractors. Then click on any of the hurricane states.

[MortMan]

Never had raccoons in your attic I see.

That's YOUR home they're trashing, not THEIRS! ;-P

[Xenalyte]

Just thinking about the fate of the coffee table in that sketch makes me giggle.

Next time you see it, watch Christina Applegate. Chris Farley breaks her near the end. She's laughing so hard, she has to hide her face behind her hair.

[CajunConservative]

Even when they are well cared for they fall apart after a while. These trailers are very poorly constructed. I would NOT spend a penny on a used one.

[CajunConservative]

Um, these folks are Texans.

[GretchenM]

oops thanks.

[Responsibility2nd]

I just clickled the link in post 69.

Then clicked some of the pics of some of those trailers. No wonder some of these $20,000 trailers are wholesaling for 2-3 thousand!

Whew! I can almost smell the stench from here!

[FreedomCalls]

Next time you see it, watch Christina Applegate. Chris Farley breaks her near the end. She's laughing so hard, she has to hide her face behind her hair.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVjw9MbLic

Too funny!

[Right Wing Assault]

why isn't FEMA finding those people and selling them the trailers

Because it is not their money they are throwing away. If they were a business, they would act much differently.