FEMA's "Top Secret Military Program" Relents--Poor Get Hurricane Trailers After All

Some time back, an Oklahoma based community action agency tried to obtain some of the surplus 'Katrina trailers,' from FEMA to help low-income Oklahomans get a leg up and out of poverty. According to a story in the Tahlequah Daily Press the agency was given a sharp rebuff and told those trailers were, "Part of a top secret military program." With a little intervention--and maybe a little bit of bad press--FEMA has finally relented. With a catch.

While government agencies can get the trailers for free, community service organizations can't. So the state of Oklahoma got FEMA to release trailers to them, and in turn in selling the trailers to the Cookson Hills Community Action agency. Despite the bureaucratic hoop-jumping, eventually the travel trailers will trickle down to low-income people who participate in a life-skills training program designed to help them learn skills that will help themselves and their families. One possible participant is a man presently living in a house with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing.

With strict income guidelines and a requirement to take the coursework, hopefully RV dealers won't feel slighted by folks who get these trailers without having to buy them on the commercial market.

For the whole story, visit the Tahlequah Daily Press article.