FEMA Trailer - Description

Description

Many FEMA trailers are installed on the private property of homeowners, usually on lawns and sometimes in driveways next to the house. However, there are also numerous FEMA operated trailer parks where many storm victims have been living. Although several types and sizes of manufactured structures have been installed throughout the Gulf Coast region, most are mass-produced, one-bedroom travel trailers. These typical FEMA trailers are designed to accommodate two adults and two children. There are larger trailers and other manufactured structures that can accommodate larger families.

The typical FEMA trailer consists of a master bedroom with a standard size bed, a living area with kitchen and stove, bunk beds, and a bathroom with shower. Each trailer is equipped with electricity, air conditioning, indoor heating, running cold and hot water, a propane-operated stove and oven, a small microwave oven, a large refrigerator, and a few pieces of furniture attached to the floor; usually a sofabed, a small table, and two chairs. Again, most FEMA trailers are identical mass-produced travel trailers. There are only a handful of FEMA trailer designs, so nearly all trailers have the same general layout.

Each trailer is elevated about two feet (0.6 m) above the ground, on concrete supports. There is only one door on the side of each trailer, which is accessible through a wooden or aluminum stairwell. There are also long ramps for wheelchair-using occupants. Electrical service to the FEMA trailers is installed by the local power company, which is the Entergy Corporation in most of the Gulf Coast region. Each trailer has its own power meter, separate from the power meter of the house. These trailers do have ports for telephone access, cable, and Internet access. However, these services are not handled by FEMA, and a trailer occupant must arrange to have these services installed by a local provider.

The typical FEMA trailer has two propane tanks on the front of the trailer behind the master bedroom, which provide the hot water, indoor heating, and gas for the stove and oven. Running water for the trailer is usually provided by some sort of water source on the property, usually through a garden hose. Sewage is piped directly to an underground sewage main on the property. Most trailers have several windows which can be opened, as well as small light fixtures in each room.

The trailer parks operated by FEMA range from small lots, consisting of a dozen trailers in the parking lots of office buildings and supermarkets scattered throughout the region, to several massive parks occupying large plots of land with hundreds of trailers. The larger parks are typically surrounded by a chain-link fence and brightly lit at night. FEMA has also provided police security and controlled access to the larger parks.

While occupying FEMA travel trailers or mobile homes, residents are responsible for maintaining their trailers, such as keeping the trailers clean, changing lightbulbs and smoke-detector batteries, and making sure propane fuel tanks are refilled with fuel.

Travel trailers and mobile homes are inspected once a month for the occupant's safety and convenience: if a travel trailer or mobile home requires maintenance beyond basic upkeep, residents should call the appropriate travel trailer maintenance hotline for their parish or county.