FEMA trailers will help tornado survivors

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Thousands of trailers that were purchased by FEMA after hurricanes tore through the Gulf Coast in 2005 may finally be put to use.

Officials say some of the more than 7,000 trailers being stored at an Arkansas airport will “definitely” be used in Arkansas and Tennessee, to house victims of last week's tornadoes.

The decision follows request from state officials and by the congressional delegation from Arkansas. In the past, that delegation has criticized the trailers as a sign of federal ineptitude after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

After Katrina hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency bought 25,000 manufactured homes built at a cost of more than 850 million dollars. Many of them went unused, as many hurricane victims remained homeless. In all, FEMA has about 75,000 trailers and mobile homes in various locations around the country.

Last week, 12 people were killed along one tornado path in Arkansas. Nationally, 59 people died in the storms that lashed five states.