Miami Herald (Sunday)

FEMA trailer program ending in the Keys March 10

- BY GWEN FILOSA gfilosa@flkeysnews.com Gwen Filosa: KeyWestGwe­n

Travel trailers distribute­d by the federal government across the Florida Keys in the wake of Hurricane Irma will disappear in two months, when the program ends after a year and a half.

The Federal Emergency Management Administra­tion began delivering “end of program” notices to FEMA trailer dwellers Saturday.

The direct temporary housing assistance program ends March 10.

“Any survivor currently in a FEMA unit, owner or renter will receive an End of Program Letter,” a FEMA spokesman said Friday. “There is no extension for the end of the program.”

“Over 70 percent of the 318 Collier, Lee, Hendry and Monroe County applicants who received Direct Housing assistance have found long-term solutions and have moved out of their units,” according to a FEMA statement.

By Jan. 10, the end-ofprogram letters will be delivered to the remaining occupants of the FEMA trailers.

The trailers will be auctioned off on GSAAuction­s. gov, which on Friday was offline due to the federal government shutdown.

Irma slammed into the Florida Keys on Sept. 10, 2017, destroying or severely damaging some 4,000 homes.

As of Dec. 26, 2018, there were 63 households living in the trailers in the Keys and 12 households living in FEMA directleas­ed properties, according to the county’s website.

 ?? PEDRO PORTAL. pportal@miamiheral­d.com. ?? In August 2018, Christine King sits in front of her FEMA trailer that replaced the home she lost to Hurricane Irma’s wrath on Big Pine Key.
PEDRO PORTAL. pportal@miamiheral­d.com. In August 2018, Christine King sits in front of her FEMA trailer that replaced the home she lost to Hurricane Irma’s wrath on Big Pine Key.

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