FEMA Says Hurricane Victims Won’t Be Evicted

BILOXI — Housing advisers should not be telling residents in FEMA trailer parks they will be evicted June 1 when the temporary housing program ends, the federal agency said Thursday.

"If any of our housing advisers are telling people that they’re going to be evicted, we want to know who those housing advisers are because they are sending out the wrong message," said FEMA spokeswoman Marcia Hill.

Added Eugene Brezany of FEMA: "We’re doing everything possible to get people out of the trailers and into a more permanent housing situation."

On Wednesday, Dena Wittmann of Back Bay Mission said her organization has fielded a host of calls from panicking residents who were told by housing advisers they must move out by June 1 or they will be evicted and their trailers removed.

But Brezany said the requirements for the June 1 deadline have already been met and there was an obvious communication problem.

"We have closed our emergency group sites," he said. "I don’t think you’ll hear anything else about trailers because the parks are gone."

There are 6,731 families in South Mississippi living in temporary trailers. Of those, 75 percent are on private property, Brezany said. The remaining 25 percent are in nine parks scheduled to be closed by Dec. 31.

There also are a few other FEMA trailers scattered across 90 commercial parks in the state. These will be phased out by the end of the year, but, if necessary, could be extended until March 1, 2009.

The FEMA trailer residents who called Back Bay Mission were asking for help finding enough money for a deposit on a rental property, Wittmann said.

Brezany said there are a number of resources residents living in trailer parks can use to help them find another home.

FEMA says it, working with nonprofits, can help residents:

–Pay for transportation relocation costs.

–Contract directly with landlords and hotel/motel owners to eliminate credit.

–Pay rent up front to landlords and necessary security deposits and utilities.

–Find resources to support local relocation.

–Find food vouchers and stipends.

–Find temporary storage and/or shipping of household property.

–Pay for boarding and care of household pets.

–Buy furniture through partnership with voluntary agencies