The end of the Katrina Trailers

Now that the Centers for Disease Control has affirmed long-held concerns about fumes in FEMA travel trailers, change could be coming in the Gulf Coast.

The CDC reports that it has completed tests of 519 travel trailers. Their survey found that formaldehyde fumes exceeded normal levels by a factor of five. About five percent of surveyed residents had breathing problems that the CDC attributed to the fumes.

In acting upon the news, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) indicates that it will seek alternatives for the 35,000 families living in FEMA trailers in Lousiana and Mississippi. Residents will be moved to a variety of housing types, from apartments and hotels to mobile homes.

One option that wasn’t mentioned was the Katrina cottage. While those homes were heralded for their excellent urban design and affordablity, some reports indicate that

communities have attempted to use zoning laws to block the homes from their borders. That is not a surprising reaction. In fact, it mirrors some of the obstacles that face any attempts at manufactured housing.

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for example, has attempted to put rules into place that limit Katrina cottages to land zoned for commercial mobile home parks.

In Mississippi, where about 30 percent of households lived in rentals, just 10 percent of Katrina funds for housing rehab have gone to rental units.

All of this could suggest problems when it comes to moving people. While FEMA might decide to shut down the trailers, they might not have a enough alternatives in place to move all of these people.

Even now, four years later, existing biases in zoning are predicating that manufactured housing cannot be fully utilized to answer the needs of residents.  Systemic lack of investment in rental housing does not help.

Many non-profits (like this one) in the area are finding ways to respond.  They are doing great work.  But they cannot do it alone, and they should not have to work against the current of government agencies.

FEMA officers indicate that one big problem will be accomplishing the relocation before the summer. When its hot, the fumes are worse.