Cumberland Times-News
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What do certain Hurricane Katrina-surplus FEMA trailers have in common with a pack of cigarettes? They both carry warning labels. In the case of the FEMA trailers, they say the units are “not to be used for housing.”
The first concerns aired about these trailers was that some of them are contaminated with formaldehyde. This supposedly happened chiefly because the federal government was in a hurry to have them built and delivered.
Most recently, other FEMA trailers have been found not to meet the minimum standards for manufactured housing in Pennsylvania.
Why, we wonder, were such units approved in the first place for use by people who were displaced from their homes by the hurricane? Reminds us that one of the Three Biggest Lies is: “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you.”
Not all of the trailers are unsafe, and under the right circumstances can be a bargain for those who buy them and are willing to clean and repair them. Some surplus FEMA trailers have been destroyed by the government, not because they were poorly built, but because they were used by Katrina victims who basically trashed them.
None of this is to say you should avoid buying one of these trailers. If you do, just find out from the seller exactly what you are getting and use it in an appropriate fashion.
