Release Date: February 3, 2006
Release Number: 1604-235
BILOXI, Miss. -- As progress is being made moving people into travel trailers and mobile homes during the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina recovery effort, state and federal emergency management officials are asking people to heed warnings against moving emergency homes from assigned locations.
The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) point to safety and legal issues in moving the units.
"A lot of planning and research goes into situating the trailers at particular sites and connecting them for use," said Nick Russo federal coordinating officer for the Mississippi disaster recovery. "Besides being unlawful, attempting to move them creates a number of problems."
Russo said there could be difficulties lining up sewer lines, disrupting function and flow to a travel trailer or mobile home. Changing electrical connections could pose safety issues, especially if the electrical gauge is different from the original setup. Also, an inexperienced person may hit water and or electrical lines in trying to re-anchor a unit after moving it.
"The travel trailers and mobile homes are property of the federal government," said MEMA Director Robert Latham. "Each trailer recipient is informed in writing about rules and regulations when they sign a lease or occupancy agreement for one of these units."
If the delivery address for the trailer must change, the occupant should call FEMA as soon as possible to eliminate delay. If a person wants to change the location of a trailer after it is delivered, call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 for the hearing-or speech-impaired.
Statement On Travel Trailers
And Formaldehyde
Our investigation of formaldehyde and travel trailers indicates that ventilating the units can significantly reduce levels of formaldehyde emissions. We continue to study the issue to determine what other specific actions can be taken to protect the public.
In the meantime, we have applied standards issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for formaldehyde emission levels for wood products used in the construction of manufactured homes (mobile homes) to both travel trailers and park models purchased by the agency. Park models are larger than travel trailers, but smaller than manufactured home.
The HUD standard places limits on formaldehyde emissions and product certification of all plywood and particleboard materials, which involves emission certification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory and a written quality control plan for each plant where particle board is produced or finished or where the plywood is finished. These standards have been required by HUD for manufactured homes, and now FEMA's specifications have incorporated those same standards for travel trailers.
Formaldehyde is a common substance that is found in homes and buildings everywhere. It is present in glue, particleboard, plywood as well as furniture made with these products. Formaldehyde also is found in a variety of materials encountered in everyday life - cigarettes and cigarette smoke and personal care products. Some people may be particularly sensitive to the chemical, while others may not have any noticeable reaction at all. The HUD standards also require that each manufactured home be provided with a Health Notice on formaldehyde emissions as required by 3280.309 of the Standards.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, initiates mitigation activities and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA works closely with state and local emergency managers, law enforcement personnel, firefighters and other first responders. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
