Gulf Coast towns closing trailer parks

PASCAGOULA, Miss., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Cities and towns along the U.S. Gulf Coast are closing impromptu trailer parks housing nearly 65,000 families left homeless after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"It's an act of tough love," Pascagoula, Miss. Mayor Matthew Avara told USA Today in a story published Friday.

"We don't want to put any unneeded hardship on any of our people," Avara said, "but at the same time, we've got to move forward, and the way to move forward is to close down these parks."

Homeowners from Alabama to Texas must show progress in rebuilding or get rid of the trailers, issued as temporary housing by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, say local and state authorities.

Advocates for those living in the trailers say housing remains in short supply and rebuilding efforts continue to be bogged down by state and federal bureaucracy.

"Throwing people out when they have no place else to live is not a long-term solution for a community," Davida Finger, a lawyer with Loyola University's Law Clinic, told USA Today.