Manufactured Homes Get Pre-Holiday FEMA Push 

Release Date: November 26, 2008
Release Number: 1791-284

» More Information on Texas Hurricane Ike

AUSTIN, Texas -- With the holidays near, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is striving to get all eligible Texans displaced by Hurricane Ike into suitable housing as soon as possible.

Although tens of thousands of affected residents already have found solutions to their short-term housing needs, FEMA and its Texas partner, the Governor's Division of Emergency Management (GDEM), are pushing hard to increase the number of eligible residents who have moved into manufactured housing.

"We'd like to see disaster-affected Texans gathered around their tables for the holidays," said Federal Coordinating Officer Stephen DeBlasio. "We're working vigorously on several fronts to try to make that happen."

In an unprecedented effort, scores of FEMA Community Relations specialists are working from sunrise to sundown in some of the hardest-hit communities along the upper Gulf Coast to streamline the process of manufactured home installations.

The specialists are walking the streets of towns in Orange, Jefferson and Chambers counties, noting the homes that have been placed on pads, but remain unoccupied due to a lack of such things as stairs, skirting, utility hookups or meters. Specialists then report any issues to FEMA's Area Field Office in Beaumont, where steps can be taken to get the utility company or contractor out to the site quickly.

FEMA's efforts are having positive results. In the southern Orange County town of Bridge City, more than 75 percent of the Texans approved for temporary direct housing, and whose site was found to be feasible, have moved into manufactured homes.

In one case, the FEMA field specialists were instrumental in reuniting a Bridge City couple with their son, who has Down syndrome. The parents had remained in their damaged dwelling while awaiting their mobile home, but had been forced to send their son to live elsewhere for health reasons. After learning of the family's situation, FEMA pushed to get their home installed.

FEMA continues to make great progress on the Bridge City mobile home effort, with the Tuesday groundbreaking on Texas' first Hurricane Ike temporary mobile home community site.

 "This project demonstrates the progress we can make toward getting Texans into manufactured housing when our local partners go the extra mile to allow us to build community sites," said DeBlasio. 

To date, FEMA and GDEM have identified 3,213 households as eligible for manufactured housing. Of that number, 1,419 Texans have signed occupancy agreements, meaning they have moved into a mobile home or park model.

FEMA also is working around the clock to find feasible sites for the manufactured homes that have yet to be installed for those on the list of eligible applicants. In many cases, a homeowner's property is too small to accommodate a manufactured home, or the available site has limited access to utility hookups.

Finding acceptable commercial and community sites also has been a challenge, especially on flood-prone Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula.

"With everyone working together, we're confident the best solution will present itself in these areas," said State Coordinating Officer Joan Haun. "After all, we're all working toward the same goal - to house displaced Texans as soon as possible."

To apply for disaster assistance, displaced residents should call FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-877-8339, go online at www.fema.gov or visit the nearest Disaster Recovery Center. The deadline to apply is Dec. 12.  

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Friday, 28-Nov-2008 08:02:43