Joe
09-18-05, 01:16 PM
FEMA's City of Anxiety in Florida
Many Hurricane Charley Victims Still Unsure of Next Step
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091601922.html
(Registration may be required.)
Forman's place is FEMA City, a dusty, baking, treeless collection of almost 500 trailers that was set up by the federal emergency agency last fall to house more than 1,500 people made homeless by Hurricane Charley, one of the most destructive storms in recent Florida history. The free shelter was welcomed by thankful survivors back then; almost a year later, most are still there -- angry, frustrated, depressed and increasingly desperate.
"FEMA City is now a socioeconomic time bomb just waiting to blow up," said Bob Hebert, director of recovery for Charlotte County, where most FEMA City residents used to live.
If "we" as a society have not been able to relocate and settle on a permanent basis 1,500 victims of Hurricane Charley after a year, how can we relocate and settle over a million people victimized by Katrina?
Most of these people cannot return to the area where they used to live, because the real estate is being used to build luxury homes and other accommodations for the upscale, and these people are priced out, in part by landlords who have raised rents substantially.
ETA: For those of you who want to read the article, but don't want to be hassled by registration, it seems like the full text is reproduced in the following blog entry:
http://losfuzzydice.blogspot.com/2005/09/in-case-you-thought-there-were-happy.html
Many Hurricane Charley Victims Still Unsure of Next Step
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091601922.html
(Registration may be required.)
Forman's place is FEMA City, a dusty, baking, treeless collection of almost 500 trailers that was set up by the federal emergency agency last fall to house more than 1,500 people made homeless by Hurricane Charley, one of the most destructive storms in recent Florida history. The free shelter was welcomed by thankful survivors back then; almost a year later, most are still there -- angry, frustrated, depressed and increasingly desperate.
"FEMA City is now a socioeconomic time bomb just waiting to blow up," said Bob Hebert, director of recovery for Charlotte County, where most FEMA City residents used to live.
If "we" as a society have not been able to relocate and settle on a permanent basis 1,500 victims of Hurricane Charley after a year, how can we relocate and settle over a million people victimized by Katrina?
Most of these people cannot return to the area where they used to live, because the real estate is being used to build luxury homes and other accommodations for the upscale, and these people are priced out, in part by landlords who have raised rents substantially.
ETA: For those of you who want to read the article, but don't want to be hassled by registration, it seems like the full text is reproduced in the following blog entry:
http://losfuzzydice.blogspot.com/2005/09/in-case-you-thought-there-were-happy.html