Proposed FEMA trailer site in Cape Coral scrapped
A proposed temporary trailer site northwest of Cape Coral City Hall designed to house people who lost their homes or are waiting to have them repaired after Hurricane Ian will not happen.
"At this time, FEMA has decided not to build the group housing site in Cape Coral," said John Mills, external affairs officer for the FEMA incident management assistance team, saying it wasn't needed.
Cape Coral City Council members had approved a measure in February that would lease the city-owned seven parcel properties in a 6-2 vote.
Hurricane Ian struck Southwest Florida on Sept. 28, damaging homes along the Gulf of Mexico coast, particularly slamming Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Pine Island, and Cape Coral.
Since then, many Cape Coral residents have had to find temporary housing, such as RVs, while their homes get repaired.
Mills said the decision will not prevent FEMA from continuing to provide housing resources to residents still affected by Ian.
"We're always continuing to assess the need for those locations versus available housing that may meet the needs of disaster survivors more quickly," Mills said.
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He said other housing resources are available and used to help those displaced.
"Fortunately, that money has helped people make repairs to get back in their homes, stay in their homes, or find a new place to live either to purchase or rent," Mills said.
In April, FEMA paid roughly $3.6 billion in flood insurance claims, which includes flood insurance payments, and individual assistance for uninsured losses.
Nearly 100,000 households received FEMA funding to help with their recovery, Mills said.
He said FEMA first provides money directly to survivors, as it's the quickest way to help people make home repairs.
Because of the sheer destruction brought in by Hurricane Ian, FEMA decided to provide paid stays at hotels and as a last resort, build mobile home parks and group sites.
"Building a mobile home park from the ground up is always the last resort because we try to use existing housing resources in the affected area whenever possible because that's a lot faster to do," Mills said.
FEMA has also provided more than 650 households in Lee County with emergency housing, either in a paid hotel, apartment, or some form of manufactured housing.
Direct housing is meant to last 18 months from the disaster declaration date, Sept. 29, 2022.
This year, FEMA entered into an agreement with the private property owner of Tranquility Lakes to lease their space to provide direct housing in northwest Cape Coral.
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Cape Coral Councilmember Tom Hayden, who voted in favor of the site, said many hurdles prevented the site from coming online.
"It was going to be difficult anyway, just because the utilities would have to be around because they were looking at putting mobile homes there, not just travel trailers," Hayden said.
FEMA previously stated that issues with local, state, and federal regulations presented challenges like searching for land, keeping people impacted closer to their city, and making sure the land has utilities and could hold temporary housing.
He said timing also became an issue.
"That's the trouble with this stuff moving slowly is people can't wait because they need to find a place," Hayden said.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian and Cape Coral: Plans for FEMA trailer site discarded
