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- The term FEMA trailer,or FEMA travel trailer, is the name commonly given by the United States Government to forms of temporary manufactured housing assigned to the victims of natural disaster by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Such trailers are intended to provide intermediate term shelter, functioning longer than tents which are often used for short-term shelter immediately following a disaster. FEMA trailers serve a similar function to the "earthquake shacks" erected to provide interim housing after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. FEMA trailers were used to house thousands of people in South Florida displaced by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, some for as long as two and a half years. After Hurricane Charley in 2004, 17,000 FEMA-issued trailers and mobile homes were successfully deployed. At least 145,000 trailers were bought by FEMA to house survivors who lost their homes during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season due to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. FEMA trailers were also made available after extensive flooding in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey due to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. News reports of health issues relating to Katrina-issue FEMA trailers began to appear in July 2006. A federal report in July 2006 identified toxic levels of formaldehyde in 42% of the trailers examined, attributing problems to poor construction and substandard building materials. As of 2012, two class-action lawsuits were settled, between residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, and (1) manufacturers who built mobile homes for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and (2) FEMA contractors who installed and maintained them. FEMA trailers are the property of the U.S. Government and are expected to be returned after use. In 1995, some Florida residents who had difficulty finding accommodation in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew "bought their FEMA trailers for an average of $1,100 each." Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. Government was left with large numbers of FEMA trailers. Surplus FEMA trailers were sold via online public auctions conducted by the General Services Administration. The distribution and resale of Katrina FEMA trailers has been heavily criticized given the possible health risks involved. Since 2012, FEMA has modified its model for responding to storms. It provides money for temporary housing or repairs to get through the emergency, and treats FEMA trailers as a "last resort". (en)
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