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Hurricane survivors to be moved from trailers
After downplaying the risks for months, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said it will rush to move victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of roughly 35,000 government-issued trailers because tests found dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes.
- AP
- Published: 00:32 February 16, 2008
New Orleans: After downplaying the risks for months, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said it will rush to move victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of roughly 35,000 government-issued trailers because tests found dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes.
Fema Administrator R. David Paulison said the agency hopes to get everyone out and into hotels, motels, apartments and other temporary housing by the summer, when the heat and stuffy air could worsen the problem inside the trailers.
"The real issue is not what it will cost but how fast we can move people out," he said on Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fumes from 519 tested trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were, on average, about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes. Formaldehyde, a preservative commonly used in construction materials, can lead to breathing problems.
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