Kick ‘Em While They’re Down
Feb 16th, 2007 at 12:10 pm by Maya
Katrina victims waited months to get a place to stay, now those places are hurting them:
Along the Gulf Coast, in the towns and fishing villages from New Orleans to Mobile, survivors of Hurricane Katrina are suffering from a constellation of similar health problems. They wake up wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Their eyes burn; their heads ache; they feel tired, lethargic. Nosebleeds are common, as are sinus infections and asthma attacks. Children and seniors are most severely afflicted, but no one is immune.
There’s one other similarity: The people suffering from these illnesses live in trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
But like most people on the brink of homelessness, they feel they have to compromise themselves because something, even if it’s toxic, is better than nothing:
Many residents suffering from symptoms, however, are afraid to complain to FEMA, fearing the agency will take away the only housing they can afford. It was complaints of respiratory problems to the Sierra Club that led the organization to test fifty-two FEMA trailers last April, June and July. Some 83 percent of the thirteen different types tested had formaldehyde in the indoor air at levels above the EPA recommended limit.
Go read the whole hearbreaking story. I appreciate that Gulf Stream was working day and night to make the trailers and find materials, but since there’s no meaningful regulation for temporary “travel style” trailers, there’s no quality control for materials and no agency who wants to step in and fix this. A classic example of why self regulation doesn’t work.
I mentioned this to Barbara Bush, and she said that
things have really worked out pretty well for them.