[StBernard] Used trailers are 'deactivated'

[Westley Annis]

Used trailers are 'deactivated'
FEMA: Some reused in Mississippi
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine at sunherald.com

BILOXI - When Bill Nelson and his wife, Eloise, moved out of their driveway
and into their newly renovated home, they couldn't wait to finally say
goodbye to their tiny travel trailer.

The Nelsons had lived in a FEMA travel trailer for several months while the
soggy insides of their Biloxi home were ripped out and replaced. The trailer
was connected to a sewer line along their driveway in the Channel Marker
subdivision.

About four months ago, the Nelsons began calling FEMA, asking to have their
trailer removed. A few dozen phone calls later, the trailer was finally
hauled away in late February.

"I even stopped a crew that was bringing a trailer in, and I told them that
they could have ours, but they said they were only doing drop-off, not
pickup," Nelson said. "I eventually went to the FEMA center on Pass Road and
they had me speak with someone else; they finally came and got it."

Nearly 35,000 travel trailers are occupied in the state, and Eugene Brezany,
a FEMA spokesman, said the agency is still working to deliver trailers to
residents in need.

"Our first priority is still to provide units to people who need them," he
said. "But we are picking up trailers that are no longer needed, as we can."

When a trailer is removed, FEMA considers the unit to be "deactivated," and
so far, the agency has deactivated more than 2,200 trailers. The trailers
are taken back to a staging area in Purvis, and according to FEMA, some
trailers are reused to house Katrina victims in Mississippi.

Brezany said FEMA works with applicants on a housing plan, and once the plan
is completed, the agency will begin its "deactivation process." The agency
has not yet determined whether residents will have an option to buy their
trailers.

"Usually, we will recognize that their housing plan has been completed and
they no longer need the trailer and we will deactivate it," he said. "The
deactivation process could take several days or a few months."

Bechtel, a California firm, received a $500 million contract without
competition on Aug. 29, after President Bush suspended federal regulations,
to haul and install travel trailers in the South.

Colorado-based CH2M Hill, who also received a $500 million contract, is in
charge of removing the trailers, for now, according to Brezany.

FEMA urges residents who are moving out of their trailers and into their
homes to remove all personal items before calling to have the unit
deactivated.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Finished with your trailer?

If Bechtel installed your trailer, call (866) 877-6075.

If CH2M Hill installed your trailer, call (866) 628-6385.

Or call the FEMA help line at (800) 621-3362.