Hundreds of FEMA trailers sit empty (FL)

[struggle4progress]

VENICE— ABC7 has discovered hundreds of empty FEMA trailers sitting on lots, while hundreds of people remain homeless across southwest Florida. Why aren't the trailers getting to the people who need them?

The sight of over 300 trailers in a lot off I-75 looks strikingly similar to FEMA City in Charlotte County, but there is one big difference. This one sits empty.

In a way it's a good sign showing help is on the way for those left homeless by Wilma, but the big question is when will the homes get there?

Lorraine Hallihan's home was badly damaged by Hurricane Wilma. There holes in the ceiling and in the floor, yet she still lives there with 5 other people, including a 10 month old. <snip>

http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=4885&z=3&p=

[Straight Shooter]

1. I sense a lack of communication on the part of FEMA to those in need.

*sigh* It never ends ...

[struggle4progress]

2. FEMA counts 1,723 refugees still in state's inns, not 36,000

November 10, 2005 Thursday
BY CATHY FRYE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The number of hurricane refugees who remain housed in the state's hotels and motels is dramatically lower than the estimated 36,000. Try 1,723 ... "We are not pointing any fingers or criticizing anybody," said FEMA spokesman Bob Alvey ... "I personally don't think we're going to have a hard solid number," he concluded ...

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=l:326813334&start=16

... Previous reports showed an estimated 36,000 residing in hotels ... Alvey didn't know how much money Arkansas hotels and motels have been reimbursed thus far ...
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100017754&docId=l:323898497&start=3

[Straight Shooter]

3. If the numbers were a couple thousand apart, I could understand.

But almost 32,000 difference?

I swear, it does make me wonder if they are being deliberately incompetent so that FEMA can be axed from programs which receive government funds. Then that money can be redirected to Iraq and their emergency management operations. :eyes:

[struggle4progress]

4. 1. They are really following Norquist's treasonous prescription ..

.. to bankrupt the federal government.

2. While doing so, they intend to consolidate power by a sort of bribery, throwing borrowed federal dollar at any group that will continue to support them politically.

3. There is also a Roveran endgame: they will use their own crimes to increase cynicism about federal government, by arguing that their own action shows federal government is by nature corrupt.

4. "Incompetency" is an act, with a legal significance: "Your honor, it is true that my client performed badly, but his failure was not criminal: he was simply incompetent." It's a common political game in certaiun circles.

[Straight Shooter]

5. I wish all Americans would wake up and smell the coffee.

So let's say we get rid of government and watch people start screaming about the state of the infrastructure, for example. (Which they should be screaming already but they don't notice the damage done already.) Or perhaps the weird ones roaming the streets because they haven't taken their medication because no one is willing to pay for it and it becomes a lottery of fate as to who will suffer the consequences when one of the weird one snaps and kills a few people.

Government isn't the problem. It's the mismanagement of its benefits that is the problem.

And I would be remiss if I didn't add that Grover Norquist is just as evil as Rove.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. What do you expect

when you put people in charge of government who hate government?

[Richard Steele]

12. I totally agree. This "incompetence" is carefully designed.

They have looted funding and basic infrastructure
until all that remains is a hollow shell...
Katrina response is proof enough of that.

All the money moving through is now being used to maximize
profits for corporations, NOT to help citizens.
All the PROFIT is in BUILDING the trailers;
there's not much $$$ to be made in giving them to
the folks who need them.

And all the profiteering, corruption, and plain THEFT
which is framed as 'incompetence' serves a secondary agenda:
undermining TRUST in US Goverment makes it easier
for those who promote an anti-govenment mindset.

Once they DROWN the Gov in that bathtub, you can bet
the Corporate Fascists will step in to 'save us'....
with 'rescue plans' they drew up decades ago.

[texpatriot2004]

6. WTH? What are they gonna send them to Seattle or something?

Drive them around the nation a few times just to waste money...like the ice? Geez. This makes me so mad.

[Horse with no Name]

8. I live in a corrider that they use to take these homes

At least 10 FEMA mobile homes are hauled through here DAILY.
How do I know they are FEMA?
They have huge FEMA banners across them.
This has been going on for over a month now.
Every single day.
They haul them through here at midnight.
This is only ONE route to the South.
I am certain other homes are going other routes.
I can't believe they are just letting them sit.
I am sure they are sitting until they can figure out how to divert the use of these trailers for personal gain.
They look pretty nice. Everyone of them is identical white though.
Should make for some interesting neighborhoods, but I wonder how many Republican landlord "Friends of FEMA" will all of the sudden "own" trailers that they are renting out to people who should have owned them in the first place.
I don't trust any of those fuckers.

[bluedeminredstate]

11. I hadn't thought of the landlord issue

but I bet you're right about who will end up collecting rent on these "homes."

[emc]

9. watch them come t through here every day

I live a couple of miles from I-- 10--Fema trailers come through here every day from cal and other states headed towards the east coast---I have stopped and talked to the drivers and they have confirmed where they are headed---they get paid about 1.35 per mile for delivery---there a have been thousands of trailers passing through here as well as big storage facilities---
Its seems to me that under the circumstances, this thing could have been done another way more efficiently---each truck could could have been set up to at least two trailers--why in the heck is each truck pulling one trailer---Im talking one ton duallys pulling these trailers---and if you estimate the cost of transportation---thats about 2700 dollars for delivery of each trailer---if fema had prepared for this in the future this tremendous transportation bill could have been avoided to the american public---and now on top of it , these trailers are not being used----------I have heard other stories of trailers sitting on lots by the thousands----------who knows, what a screw up------

[zann725]

10. I see countless obvious Katrina 'refugees' w/ shopping carts for homes

here in L.A. alone. I know the neighborhood, and the "new" homeless I'm seeing since Katrina (and 2,000 alone were sent to Santa Monica) are clearly NOT being "cared for." It is heart-breaking.

Guess Brownie, and his replacement are 'otherwise occupied' sending emails about what Nordstrom outfit they last bought. With the holiday shopping season upon us, that means there will no doubt be additional delay in actually housing FEMA-victims from FL and NO and MS.

[AnnieBW]

13. They Just Discovered Them?

We passed them back in April, when we visited my in-laws who live in Venice. They were supposedly for the victims of Charley in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, which is about 20 miles down I-75. When they returned to Venice from Indianapolis a few weeks ago, my MIL was surprised to see that the trailers were still there two weeks after Wilma hit.

BTW, their Congressional rep is Katherine Harris.