CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia is buying land for what federal officials say is the nation's first plan to establish permanent housing sites for people displaced by natural disasters. "We know it's going to happen again, a flood or a natural disaster," Gov. Joe Manchin said Monday. "People need a place to call home for a period of time." | Let me guess, the Sen. Robert C. Byrd Trailer Park |
Although the land could be used in case of a national emergency such as Hurricane Katrina, Manchin said it is intended mainly for use by West Virginians, especially those in the state's flood-prone southern counties. Flooding in that region has prompted six state of emergency declarations since 2000. "To our knowledge, this is the first time a state has set aside housing or space for housing for future disasters," said Butch Kinerney, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Kinerney said that in the Gulf Coast, where so much existing housing was lost because of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, "there's no place to put people." "Hopefully, West Virginia will become a model for other states around the country," he said.
The state's housing development fund already has bought four sites that can hold 194 mobile homes - although about 60 occupied mobile homes are there already. Some of the 134 vacant slots will be reserved for emergencies. The fund also plans to use $600,000 in federal money to buy an 8-acre site where 30 people displaced by flooding in May 2004 have been living in FEMA mobile homes. The purchase will allow those people to continue living there after FEMA's 18-month disaster assistance ends Nov. 28. That money is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME Program, which helps low-income people find affordable housing. |