The Federal Emergency Management Agency says one year after the flooding and tornadoes the number of Iowans living in temporary housing has dropped below 300. The peak saw 564 people living in the temporary units in October of 2008 in the months right after the disasters.
FEMA spokesman Alan Cross says those living in the mobile homes are re-certified monthly to see where they stand. Cross says an individual assistance specialist talks with the people each month to see where they are in their housing plan — whether they plan to look into renting a place or the progress they are making in rebuilding their home. Some 72 Iowans have expressed interest in purchasing the trailers from FEMA.
Cross says they are allowed to purchase the trailer if they want, if they don’t want to purchase the trailer, they are still eligible to live there through November 27th when the temporary housing program will end.
Cross says the number of people living in the temporary housing can change week-to-week. He says it all depends on how the individual recovery process goes, as some people find other housing, or get their home rebuilt and leave the temporary housing. At the end of last week there were 288 Iowans living in the FEMA trailers.