TRAILERS (CONT)

ture," Ross said in a telephone interview. "They are brand-new, all totally furnished, and yet people have been living in tents for five months in a row. It just makes you sick to your stomach."

FEMA says it has been stymied by federal regulations, such as one forbidding trailers to be positioned in flood plains - which rules out much of the area hit by Katrina - and by officials in Louisiana, where the need is greatest.

"It's amazing that every state in the union embraced Katrina evacuees except the folks in Louisiana," FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said.

After Katrina, FEMA ordered 135,000 trailers, most supplied by large national manufacturers and some acquired from local dealers, she said.

"We have a lot of trailers in the supply line. The challenge is where to place them," she said. Only eight of Louisiana's 64 parishes have welcomed them, she said. "You can't plug a trailer into a tree."

On Thursday, a rumor spread around town that FEMA was selling the trailers, $1,000 for 10. City Clerk Carol Almond had to tell callers she had no information on that.

At the Hope airport, the trailers are beginning to sag. Some people believe the trailers are there to stay. Jeannette Collums, who just had that 45th birthday, said pilots have taken to asking controllers for permission to land at the "Hope Municipal Trailer Park."

Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyrightowner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.