NEW ORLEANS, May 21 (UPI) -- Some Louisiana residents say the federal government is taking too long to remove vacant trailers once the former occupants are back in their own homes.
The New Orleans Times Picayune said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has recently awarded 16 contracts to companies that remove trailers from sites where they are no longer needed.
The increased emphasis on trailer removal is welcome in Jefferson Parish, which has 18,291 FEMA trailers, the newspaper said.
Some Jefferson residents wait with empty trailers for a couple of weeks, some a couple of months, said Terry McCarthy, who works regularly with FEMA officials as the post-Katrina housing coordinator for the parish.
A FEMA spokesman said when the government removes a trailer, it goes to a remote staging area in eastern New Orleans for refurbishing and possible reuse.
McCarthy said that the number of trailers coming into Jefferson has slowed. "The deactivation numbers will start to surpass the numbers coming in," McCarthy told the newspaper.
