Ida Victims Move From Tent Camps To Trailers 4 Months Later

SCHRIEVER, La. (AP) — More than four months after Hurricane Ida destroyed or did major damage to their houses, some south Louisiana residents are just now moving from tent camps to government-supplied trailer homes.

Shantell Campbell of Houma and her three school-aged children moved last week from a tent camp to one of dozens of trailer homes paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency at a field in Schriever, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) away.

“I’m grateful,” Campbell told The Courier. “There’s still people trying just to get here.”

Tent camps in Dulac and Montegut have closed, and occupants have moved from camps under single huge tents to one in Chauvin, featuring multiple small tents, said Terrebonne planning and zoning director Chris Pulaski.

“It’s better in the event anybody tests positive for COVID,” Pulaski said.

A state test program that provides campers as temporary housing is starting to reduce the backlog, the newspaper reported. FEMA approved and is paying for that program, spokesman Robert Howard said Monday.

Hurricane Ida left many of the residents’ homes unlivable. The storm roared ashore Aug. 29, 2021, at Port Fourchon, 47 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of Houma, as a strong Category 4 hurricane with 150-mph (240-kph) winds.

As of Wednesday, the state program had provided 1,118 campers in Terrebonne Parish, and 903 were occupied, The Courier said. Pulaski said FEMA had approved nearly 1,500 households for housing but had only 70 units occupied. About 2,400 households have signed up through FEMA, which is looking at possible sites for temporary mobile home parks.

Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson said the state program had 542 campers in the parish, with 470 occupied. FEMA had another 200 trailers in Lafourche, with 148 occupied.

The move to trailers frees up needed space in the tent camps, Terrebonne Parish Councilman Carl Harding said.

Alexis Amacker lived for a while in a tent camp near his house in Houma. He has now moved into a trailer.

“It took a while, but it’s a blessing,” Amacker said.

Parish officials have repeatedly criticized the slow response by FEMA at getting trailers set up across the two parishes.

Harding said trailer residents told him last week that their needs include getting a school bus stop and Wi-Fi access.

Those housed in the campers are chosen at random from residents who have applied for temporary housing after the storm. Some had been living in tent camps set up by the parish; FEMA paid hotel bills for others.

Two tent camps in Terrebonne Parish are still full, Pulaski said.

Pulaski said he’s also worried that COVID-19 is delaying progress. He said he tested positive over the holidays. He’s feeling better, but has been staggering shifts and letting staffers work from home to cause as little disruption as possible.

“We can’t afford to have the permit office go down because of a COVID outbreak,” he said. “There’s too much at stake.”

In Chauvin, Carolyn Marcel and Kenneth Scott Jr. have had a FEMA trailer on their property since Dec. 12, but couldn’t move in because inspection and licensing weren’t complete. Marcel and Scott said they haven’t been given a timeline.

For now, they are staying in a small camper that they’ve parked in their son’s driveway.

Both have heart problems and joked that once they move into the FEMA trailer with all of their equipment, it’ll look like a hospital unit. Both have been responsible for taking care of family members and say they need their own space after being stretched thinly.

“We need rest,” Marcel said.

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