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FEMA Blamed For Post-Hurricane Housing Problems
Thousands of residents are still homeless weeks after Hurricane Ike stormed ashore on the Texas coast, and the state says the problem is a bureaucratic logjam.
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(October 19, 2008)--Thousands are still homeless weeks after Hurricane Ike lashed the Texas coast because of what the state calls a federal "bureaucratic logjam" slowing the delivery of temporary housing.
Frustrated officials in areas flattened by Ike are also piling blame on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Officials say families continue living in tents and sleeping in cars more than a month after the storm.
Michael Gerber of the Texas Department of Housing and Community affairs acknowledges a "serious housing crisis" is facing several thousand people in hard-hit areas, and Gerber and county officials hold FEMA responsible.
He estimated several thousand trailer homes are needed across the region, particularly in Chambers, Orange, Jefferson and Galveston counties.
FEMA spokesman Dan Martinez said one of the main reasons for the delay has been "availability of sites" for manufactured homes or trailers.
He said FEMA must be assured the sites have available utilities and sometimes waivers to locate them in a flood plain.
He said meetings are being held daily to work out these issues, but Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux said he is tired of what he calls "excuses."
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