With the 2008 hurricane season rapidly approaching, almost 40,000 families are still living in temporary FEMA housing nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina.
While the six-month Atlantic hurricane season is scheduled to begin on June 1, those 40,000 families are living at group sites or in trailers in the driveways of their homes as they rebuild.
FEMA administrator R. David Paulison casually dismissed FEMA’s neglect, saying, “as far as housing people, I did not foresee that they would be there almost three years later.”
The presence of so many people in the flimsy temporary housing greatly complicates hurricane evacuations. Forecasters are again anticipating above-average storm activity this season.
It is not in the interests of the capitalist class to expend government funds on housing needs. While billions in government subsidies go to defense contractors, the needs of the poor and working class are woefully neglected.
