FEMA Orders Katrina Victims Out of Its Trailers

FEMA is booting thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims from its trailers at the end of this month whether they have somewhere else to go or not, the New York Times reports. Much of the permanent housing intended to replace the trailers remains unfinished, and as eviction day looms, many of the trailers' residents—mainly elderly or disabled people—fear they will be left homeless.

"I need the trailer,” said one 70-year-old who has been collecting cans to pay for repairs to his hurricane-wrecked apartment. “I ain’t got nowhere to go if they take the trailer." FEMA—which plans to sell the trailers for scrap—says all trailer residents have been offered accommodation. Those interviewed by the Times disagree, however, and say the agency has even rejected their offers to buy the trailers.
(More FEMA stories.)