FEMA Says No To Trailers For Miami

Thursday, August 2nd 2007, 7:45 am

By: News On 6

Flood victims in the town of Miami, Oklahoma will not be moving into trailers provided by FEMA, after concerns the trailers might have hazardous levels of formaldehyde. Some people got sick while living in FEMA trailers in the Gulf Coast area after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. So what do people in Miami do now? City officials say FEMA will bring in mobile homes, which are supposed to be safe. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports in the meantime, flood victims are getting by as best they can.

Shanie Burris might rather be at work these days than at home.

"We are staying with 14 people in a four bedroom house," Miami resident Shanie Burris said.

Shanie's old neighborhood still sits abandoned. The Red Cross says 200 homes are slated for demolition, and it's believed about 138 families have been displaced.

City Manager Mike Spurgeon says in a meeting this week, FEMA announced the trailers that arrived in Miami would not be used, and that instead they would be bringing in mobile homes.

"They will be using 14-by-16 foot mobile homes to start off with. They've secured pad sites for 22 mobile homes within our existing mobile home park and they would anticipate that probably within a week, those 22 trailers or mobile homes would be in town," said Miami City Manager Mike Spurgeon.

Spurgeon says city officials had become aware of the formaldehyde concerns well before the trailers arrived in Miami, but he says FEMA never brought up the formaldehyde issue during this week's meeting.

"The perception or the reality, the fact that they are or are not contaminated was not discussed,â€ Spurgeon said. â€œThey just said that they had decided not to use them, which was great for us to hear because of the concerns that existed about the trailers."

Just about anything would be good news for Shanie and her family, if it means they could have a place of their own.

"We have five in our room. We have our three kids and us, and we have a 4-month-old baby, so we have our baby bed and a mattress for the other two and our mattress. So yeah, it's really hard to do," said Burris.

It's not clear if the FEMA trailers in Miami were ever tested for formaldehyde. But the Associated Press says testing is underway on trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Watch the video: Flood Victims Will Not Get FEMA Trailers

Related Stories:

7/18/2007 FEMA Trailers Arrive In Flood Ravaged Miami

7/20/2007 On Heels Of Formaldehyde Complaints, FEMA Announces Plans To Test Trailer Air Quality

7/22/2007 - Officials Delay Lending FEMA Trailers To Displaced Miami Residents

7/23/2007 Formaldehyde Concerns Delay Distribution Of FEMA Trailers