If every cloud has a silver lining, a hurricane should bring plenty of silver. That’s what Florida RV dealers have been hoping for after Governor Ron DeSantis made a big announcement. In a televised news piece on WFLA-TV from Tampa Bay, DeSantis declared, “We are bringing our first round of travel trailers for people to live in while repairs are being made on their homes.” Florida RV dealers, in an effort to boost sales, are lining up to sell travel trailers to relief agencies as Hurricane Helene brings misery to many. Florida relief trailers. But hold on—it ain’t necessarily so.
“Hundreds of trailers already here, hundreds more coming”
Printed text in the WFLA story reads, “DeSantis said hundreds of the trailers are already here and hundreds more are coming.” That was enough to start the phones ringing at the Florida RV Trade Association. RVbusiness.com reports that the association’s executive director, Dave Kelly, has been swamped with calls from Florida RV dealers. Many of them have signed up as FEMA suppliers. They’re wanting to know when they’d see purchase orders.
“I can’t figure this thing out,” Kelly told RV Business. “All we hear is that they’re (FEMA—Federal Emergency Management Administration) going to buy from the area most affected and then go out from there. And they have this approved FEMA vendor list. Almost all of our dealers have signed up for it and they call me and say, ‘When are they going to buy’ and I have to say ‘I don’t know.’ And then they see news reports like this and they call and ask, ‘Where are they buying trailers,’ and again, I have to say, ‘I don’t know.’”
Video of governor’s remarks now missing
The governor says “Hundreds are here, and hundreds more are coming.” We went directly to the WFLA news story to chase down more information. Apparently, someone has taken down the video where DeSantis made claims about “hundreds” of relief travel trailers. And while WFLA reposts its video news stories on YouTube.com, the video RV Business staff saw isn’t there either. Missing video or not, the WFLA story still quotes the Governor as saying, “We are bringing our first round of travel trailers for people to live in while repairs are being made on their homes.”
Could the news media gotten the story wrong? Here’s a quote from Governor DeSantis’ own X.com page. “The State of Florida also announced that we are mobilizing hundreds of travel trailers for residents who had their homes damaged by the storm, so they can live comfortably on-site while renovations and repairs are underway.” That information was viewed by RVtravel.com staff around 10:00 this morning, Pacific time.
We’ll stay on top of this peculiar situation. We know that RVtravel.com staff and many of our readers are concerned about the plight of all those affected by Hurricane Helene. Know that our thoughts are with you.
##RVT1177b
There have been hundreds of FEMA trailers stock piled near Punta Gorda for some time near the Punta Gorda airport. Possibly those are some of the trailers the governor is talking about.
As a Florida resident you have to take anything Desantis says with a grain of salt!
Or sand.
Or bucket of sand.
As a resident you are free to leave to your perceived greener pastures. What I find amazing is the immediate dancing with glee on the suffering of affected individuals in order to proffer political commentary. I guess today’s vitriolic environment, we have lost our sense of humanity such that bodies are not even yet buried before keyboard warriors strike out.
Can’t believe a word he says
Who’s political now Ron?
100 plus dead, including children, $100+ billion in damage, middle of a crisis with tens of thousands displaced and it’s only been 48 hours.
Who’s political now Ron?
Comment comes as if on cue.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Hmm, … so … how will those getting an RV get water for the fresh water tank, get power to run the air conditioning, get propane for the water heater, and get the gray and black tanks emptied? If giving those without homes an RV is the answer, then where are the answers to the follow-up questions? Thanks again, Russ and Tina, have a great week, and safe travels! 🙂
I too was curious about those very things Neal and surmised that they would hook up to utilities on the individual properties for those with destroyed homes while they rebuild the Brix n Stix? Kind of a temporary home on the property while rebuilding permanent?
This is purely a guess, I have no knowledge of this, just speculation. Maybe it would work for many, maybe for few but I can’t imagine a better way.
Absolutely devastating situation for so many. 🙏
Happy trails.