Why does FEMA have so many temporary housing units?
In response to the unprecedented hurricane season of 2005, FEMA purchased a number of temporary housing units to support tens of thousands of disaster victims. Most of these units were deployed and occupied by eligible disaster assistance applicants. Of the more than 140,000 households placed in FEMA-provided temporary housing units in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, only about 9 percent, or 12,000 households remain in units. As units have returned from the field, FEMA has had to address the challenging issue of how to dispose of this large and growing inventory of primarily non-mission capable units. It has always been FEMA’s goal to reduce the number of temporary housing units in our inventory. However, in July, 2007, FEMA suspended sales of temporary housing units. As of October 24, 2008, there are approximately 120,000 temporary housing units stored in 21 FEMA staging areas that will be designated for re-use, repair or disposition as salvage or scrap, depending upon condit
