Toxic FEMA Trailer Claims May be Settled

[Dray]

In case you have been following this story, you may find this article interesting/concerning/scary.  

It makes me wonder about my Fleetwood popup.  Should I be concerned?  I once looked into the issue.  There is some kind of item you can buy to neutralize the fermaldahyde.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/02/national/main5866272.shtml

[AustinBoston]

Settlements on things like this are often not based on any real damage, but on what are the risks/odds/costs of winning vs loosing.

Cases like this, when they go to jury, are not decied on the basis of reasonable doubt, but on a preponderance of the evidence.  Oftentimes, the jury does not have to be unanimous, so as a plaintiff, all I need to do is convince 10 out of 12 people that you probably (probably meaning more than 50%) are responsible.

For the defendant, the risk of loosing, even if innocent, can be quite high.  When hordes of people come marching through the court crying about the ailaments they've had since Katrina, some members of the jury end up inclined to help them even if the defendant is not to blame.

All they had to do was find traces of formaldehyde (sp) in one trailer, and they had a case, whether or not the rest were contaminated.

I am not even going to think of this when using my Bayside.

Austin

[WolfPack]

That like when you buy a new car like the smell but it bad for you to. with a pop up it should be ok because when open it airing out.

[CajunCamper]

I have to tell you, I have a big problem with this whole thing. I live in Louisiana and rode out Katrina when she blew through. No I did not lose my home, but we volunteered and served those that did. We worked a shelter near my home about an hour from New Olreans that housed people from the heaviest flooded area in New Olreans. It was chaos at first just trying to get people settled in and then in the following days many of those living in the shelter became very difficult to deal with. We served them three meals a day plus snacks and you wouldn't believe the complaints we recieved when they didn't like the food. Some folks decided to protest the food by throwing it on the floors and slinging it on the walls.

Another facility/shelter 30 minutes away which housed about twice the number of people we did had over $500,000 in damage to the facility while housing folks for less than a month.

There were several FEMA trailer parks built in our area where several hundreds of these FEMA trailers were moved in to move people out of the shelters and into the trailer parks. With all of the money the Feds were dumping into this area, anyone that wanted a job could have one. They were paying $25.00 an hour for laborers to help clean up in New Orleans. Agents would first go to the shelters and the FEMA trailer parks to offer the jobs to those people first. They were actually offering to pay and transport people back and forth to New Orleans to go and clean up their own neighborhoods. They couldn't recruit enough people from the shelters and the FEMA trailer Parks out of thousands of people to fill up 1 bus going to New Orleans.

People stayed in these trailers for almost two years while recieving monthly payments, three meals a day and supplies as well as other services. All the while they were complaining that they were not being provided more permanent housing.

And now they are sueing, those that provided FREE housing for them when they could have taken one of the $52,000 a year jobs they were offered and paid for their own place. I talked to an agent that offered jobs to three family members all staying in the same trailer. All three were very able bodied individuals and he said, "would you believe they would have had a household income of over $150,000 with an opportunity to move into a house of their own and they turned it down. They flat did not want to work."

Unbelievable.

[copcarguy]

Unbelievable.

WOW...  you said it CajunCamper, unbelievable.

[AustinBoston]

And we want people to be just as dependent on the gov't for health care?

Austin

[kensue49]

I went to the gulf coast with our rescue team after Katrina.
I know what it was like for those in Mississippi and Louisiana the first few days after the devastation.
We removed remains from piles of lumber that were houses.
We slept on the ground at night.
We cut trees out of roadways and handed out water,food and diapers.
I don't know what you lived through but I saw things that I hope to never see again.
The response from FEMA left a lot to be desired.
I hope FEMA is better now.
I hope the people we helped are OK.
We spent 10 days working across two states.
Like I said I don't know what you saw or where you were at.
I pray it does not happen again in my life time because I can't go back and see that again.

[coach]

The state and local governments failed the local people.

[oreo57]

I went to the gulf coast with our rescue team after Katrina.

[/SIZE]

I know what it was like for those in Mississippi and Louisiana the first few days after the devastation.
We removed remains from piles of lumber that were houses.
We slept on the ground at night.
We cut trees out of roadways and handed out water,food and diapers.
I don't know what you lived through but I saw things that I hope to never see again.
The response from FEMA left a lot to be desired.
I hope FEMA is better now.
I hope the people we helped are OK.
We spent 10 days working across two states.
Like I said I don't know what you saw or where you were at.
I pray it does not happen again in my life time because I can't go back and see that again.

kensue49.....please remember that this is a board and reading your thread I fill you may have seen more than most.I dont believe the people responding here are trying to be mean! They are just making a point. All sides of this issue will be harsh to the other party and in the long run the GVT may have failed, But they gave homes and food, if they didnt want to help themselve's ( then you make your own bed)

[Old Goat]

A good friend in Gulfport told me that a lot of people living in FEMA trailers trashed the insides so badly that they could only be sold for junk. Others were completely stripped by the occupants of all appliances, water heaters and anything that could be sold when they moved out....and nobody even said "thank you TAXPAYERS"....

[azbirddog]

I have seen the[COLOR="Red"] YOU OWE ME[/COLOR] people all over this country. We don't work or don't want to :eyecrazy:work, I'am a citizen and all you working people owe me.......... Pay my medical and feed me :-() and give me spending money every month and don't bother me..............

[AustinBoston]

I have seen the[COLOR="Red"] YOU OWE ME[/COLOR] people all over this country. We don't work or don't want to :eyecrazy:work, I'am a citizen and all you working people owe me.......... Pay my medical and feed me :-() and give me spending money every month and don't bother me..............

All the while, they have no idea that they are as dependent on the government as slaves (and possibly more than slaves).

At least some of us who work recognize our own slavery.

Austin

[dademt]

Hummm, lets see, I hired a roofer years ago who lied on their insurance app and I got stuck rebuilding my whole house on my own with very little help from my insurance company ( which by the way dropped me afterwards since I had a claim that wasn't even my fault ).  In all this time I didn't ask for a dime from the government.  I don't want to hear anything about the "poor people that the government let down".  Bunch of rubbish.  These people saw it coming and didn't leave.  These people lived in a high risk area and didn't have a backup plan.  Sorry, I know there were lives lost and much damage.  I recognize all the people that helped.  However, I rebuild my house almost all on my own while working my full time job and was back in my house in under 6 months.  My pitty stopped a long time ago for "these poor people".  I agree with austin boston.  These people like being dependent and I would add only want to critique and not be responsible.  Call the wambulance.

[AustinBoston]

These people lived in a high risk area and didn't have a backup plan.

Almost everyone lives in a high risk area.  It's just a question of what the risks are.  Very few people have a backup plan.

Disastars happen, and they can happen to anyone, anywhere.  We should all ask ourselves, "What's the plan in case of [insert your likely disasters here]?"

Call the wambulance.

This term has just been added to my vocabulary.    Thanks.

Austin

[Old Goat]

Almost everyone lives in a high risk area.  It's just a question of what the risks are.  Very few people have a backup plan.

Disastars happen, and they can happen to anyone, anywhere.  We should all ask ourselves, "What's the plan in case of [insert your likely disasters here]?"



This term has just been added to my vocabulary.    Thanks.

Austin

We live in the foot hills of the smokey mountains so bad flooding is not a worry. The mountains tend to steer hurricanes away from us and we only get their squalls and rain.  Earthquake? maybe, we get some very small tremors now and then, mostly unnoticed. Tsunamis? they would have to be awfully high to reach our elevation.. Ice storms? yup, every few years, last one left us without power for a week but we were prepared. Moved into the den where the fire place has a natural gas log which kept us warm and we cooked meals in the popup we had back then. My collection of Coleman lanterns and oil lamps supplied plenty of llight. A lot of people had to leave because their homes were all electric. We keep a good supply of dry foods like beans, rice, grits, corn meal, flour, noodles,etc. These will keep for very long periods and we also have a supply of canned goods which we use and replace with new. Neighbor has a well with a hand operated pitcher pump so drinking water is not a problem but we have some containers of it anyway. Also have full tanks of propane, two thirtys and two twenties plus the two tanks on the trailer.
My biggest fear is the loss of electrical power for a long period which could be caused by a natural disaster or terrorists. Our society is totally dependant on electricity for just about everything. What can you do without electrical power? And what will happen to our food supply chain after a few days with out power? Really scary...
One thing for certain, people who have camping experience will have a much better chance of survival than those without, regardless of the type of disaster...Are you prepared??....