Federal Emergency Management Agency
ORG
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Only about 2,700 of the 25,000 mobile homes ordered at a cost of $850 million have been installed, and at least 10,000 are sitting in Hope, Ark., according to documents and statements from Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. Though about 55,000 Louisiana families are still waiting for a manufactured housing unit, the mobile homes may never be used because FEMA regulations prohibit them from being installed in flood-prone coastal areas, federal officials said. It was suggested that FEMA relax the regulation to allow mobile homes near the coast. About 55,000 Louisiana families are still waiting for a manufactured housing unit, the mobile homes may never be used because FEMA regulations prohibit them from being installed in flood-prone coastal areas, federal officials said. The report on the mobile homes, as well as widespread fraud in FEMA's emergency assistance to hurricane victims, came as the federal government's top three domestic security and disaster relief officials vowed to fix flaws in the nation's emergency response programs. FEMA officials said that they had installed both trailers and mobile homes after previous disasters and that they had no reason to believe that Hurricane Katrina would be different. They also suggested that FEMA relax the regulation to allow the mobile homes near the coast.