Here's why FEMA is scrapping mobile homes in Prattville
PRATTVILLE − Dozens of brand-new mobile homes sitting in a field by the Prattville landfill for the past several weeks, in full view of a major county road and the city's youth baseball complex, have led to wagging tongues and a rumor mill run amok.
Just why are the FEMA trailers being cut to pieces? Couldn't they be used for housing for recent storm victims? Is it a case of government waste on overdrive?
Well, there is a logical explanation.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is scrapping hundreds of manufactured housing and travel trailer units that were damaged in the Jan. 12 Selma tornado.
The agency maintains inventories of the housing units across the nation to provide emergency housing following disasters, and it operates a storage area at Selfield in Selma, a closed civilian airport.
“Destroyed units are being disposed of in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations,” said Issa Mansaray, a spokesman for the federal agency. The damage assessment continues, so a total of how many units being scraped is unavailable.
The units have been hauled by truck on Alabama 14 for the past several weeks. They are being stored in a hayfield next to the Prattville landfill where they wait until they can be scrapped; removing metal and other items that can be recycled. What remains will be buried.
The City of Prattville owns the landfill, but it is managed by a private company. The city is not involved with the scrapping process, Mayor Bill Gillespie said. Dozens of single-wide mobile homes can be seen in the hayfield, which is next to a county road and the David Whetstone Sports Complex, where the city’s youth league baseball games are played.
“I was wondering why all the trailers were sitting there,” said Micah Jones, whose two sons, Aubrey and Dallas, play baseball. Micah Jones noticed the units during ball games. “I mean, they all look brand new. I didn’t know they stored them in Selma. It makes sense that they were damaged during the tornado.”
On Jan. 12, Alabama was struck by an outbreak of severe weather which spawned powerful tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that created destructive straight-line winds. Dallas County was hit buy an EF2 tornado packing winds of up to 130 miles per hour, National Weather Service data shows. The path of the storm was more than 23 miles long.
The twister touched down west of Selma and went through the heart of the historic city. Selfield is east of the city and was in the path of some of the most severe damage.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Here's why FEMA is scrapping mobile homes in Prattville
