FEMA Delivers Incomplete Disaster Housing Strategy

Source: Associated Press

(07-21) 15:14 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

A year overdue, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a draft disaster housing strategy Monday, which leaves it largely up to the next administration to figure out a way to avoid Hurricane Katrina-like problems that sent victims to toxic trailers.

"What FEMA delivered today is a strategy without a plan," said Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, one of FEMA's strongest critics regarding disaster housing.

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According to the draft strategy, the government may house disaster victims in trailers only as a last resort, despite promises never to use them again. Only the head of FEMA can approve the use of such trailers, and they would have to meet the agency's standard for low formaldehyde levels. Also, disaster victims could stay in the trailers for only six months.

In the draft strategy, FEMA establishes a National Disaster Housing Task Force, which will be organized in the next two months. The task force will address these difficult housing issues, such as what to use on short notice instead of travel trailers. It will include eight members from state and local housing authorities, FEMA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"We go beyond the point of just kicking this down the road," FEMA's No. 2, Harvey Johnson, told reporters. That would be the case if FEMA didn't establish a housing task force or if the agency had ended the draft strategy after the third chapter. But, Johnson said, the draft strategy includes a fourth chapter, entitled "Implementing the Strategy."

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"FEMA offers no solutions and instead recommends the creation of a new entity to do the job FEMA was directed to do," Landrieu, a Democrat, said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/21/national/w151411D48.DTL

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