While attending the 100th American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Meeting & Conference, July 14 – 17, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, librarian George Butterfield stayed in a FEMA trailer with his friend, Scot, who lost everything as a result of Hurricane Katrina, in 2005. With my thanks, following are George’s comments about this experience:
“His FEMA trailer is located on his brother’s property in Abita Springs, Louisiana. The trailer is small, and Scot who is 6′ 3” has to be careful not to bump his head going in and out of the trailer. Scot is single and not one to complain and has made the trailer his home, but staying in the trailer for 5 days reminded me of staying in a small camping trailer. The main bedroom has room for a bed, period. There is a second “bedroom” that includes bunkbeds but Scot uses it for storage. There is very little space to hang clothes and less drawer space, so Scot uses plastic containers to organize his clothes. The refrigerator is very small. There is not much room in it to stand things up, so Scot has to organize it in such a way that only certain things are opened while other things stay on their side until the open things are gone. The kitchen table is a typical camping table with benches on each side. Scot uses half of it for storage. There is a living room that consists of a cusioned bench. Scot does some work out of his trailer so he has to use the bench to stack work materials. He bought a small computer desk and chair and has it next to the bench. The bathroom is even smaller. It has a tub with a handheld shower nozzle but it is too small for Scot and he bathes at his brother’s house. He also does his laundry elsewhere. I cannot imagine two people living in one of these trailers, let alone a family. Scot can manage it because he is single, has almost no possessions, can store things such as his bicycle at his brother’s house, and can use his brother’s shower and laundry facilities. He was also able to connect to his brother’s sewage. His brother has moved now and is in the process of selling the property on which Scot’s trailer sits. Scot has purchased land in Abita Springs but will probably have to live in a trailer park until he can build on the land. The locals want to keep the FEMA trailers all together and not spread out in the community. He has been receiving permission every three months to keep his trailer where it is but the word he gets is that the community will likely stop giving permission and, even if his brother’s property doesn’t sell, he will have to move into a FEMA park.”
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