Paying rent on FEMA trailers....

$512.

That's how much FEMA wants to charge us in rent every month starting in November for the 16'x60' FEMA trailer. That's almost half of Rick's take home pay every month.

Before the storm we rented a nice house... two bedrooms, huge kitchen, dining room, play room, living room, mudroom and full basement... detached garage... huge yard... $250 a month. That's average rent for this town. It was before the storm, anyway.

I think FEMA thinks we're still in these trailers because we don't want to get out. Do they not understand that some of us have NOWHERE ELSE TO GO?

We just started proceedings with Habitat, but their next group of homes isn't set to go up until March - but we're not planning on paying that outrageous rent on this POS trailer until then!
Many people are moving out of the trailers into homes that aren't even completely built yet, because they can't afford FEMA's rent and their house payments (not to mention the utilities at both places.) That's just not right, with winter coming on... FEMA is forcing people to live in unfinished homes.


(The Florida Street House as it looked last year... the yard and porch are cleaned up and it's been re-roofed... but other than that it looks the same. Anyone know how to get the firemen's spray paint off of the steel siding without ruining the paint???)

The Florida Street house has no electricity, no gas. The water damage from after the storm is more extensive than we first thought. We have trees we have to have cut down before the city will run the new electric lines. We have to get a new gas line installed in the house (after the storm the code was changed, so the gas lines that go into the house are no longer up to code) We have to tear out all the old water damaged plaster (about half is torn out now) and replace it with insulation and sheet rock. there are still windows that are boarded over. The carpet has been drug out, but there are warped floor boards, some with holes clear through. (Rick says we'll have to put down plywood over the existing floor). The one wall furnace no longer works, so it will have to be replaced. (no ductwork for central heat) My mom now owns the house, and she is paying for the supplies. (the little amount of insurance money barely covered the supplies for the roof)

The house is about 500 square feet. one decent sized bedroom, one tiny one. A tiny bathroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. I guess if we can get it at least partway livable, Rick and I and Isaiah will put beds in the big bedroom, Lauren and PAtrick will sleep in the tiny bedroom. We will have to split the utility bills and food costs... I'll have to find a way to put a desk in the bedroom with the beds for home school - with other people in the house, he'd get too distracted anywhere else... *sigh* I just don't know how well this will work, but it's our only choice. We can't pay 45+% of our take-home income for rent and still have money for utilities, food, gas in the truck, Isaiah's meds...

if it wasn't coming up on winter, we may just move back into the tents... but it will be too cold soon to do that!

Rick, Isaiah, Lauren and Patrick are at the Florida Street house today working... I'm so sick I can't get out of bed, but I guess I'd better start going through things and start packing what I can... my lungs won't let me work in the house with all the plaster dust - even when I'm not sick - so I'll just try to get this end of things done while they get the house ready...