Trailers continue to replace tents for Terrebonne residents displaced by Hurricane Ida

Tent base camps set up for hundreds of Terrebonne Parish residents displaced by Ida continue to shut down as residents are placed in temporary trailers or find other housing arrangements.

Planning Director Chris Pulaski updated the Parish Council on post-Ida housing issues Monday night.

In depth: Trailers continue to trickle in for Houma-Thibodaux residents displaced by Ida

The Chauvin base camp was set to close Tuesday, he said. It had 25 occupants Monday and all had temporary housing lined up. The Dulac camp was closed last month and the Montegut location closed last week.

In Houma, camps housed 150 residents on Scott Lane and 23 on Williams Avenue. These sites hold dorm-style housing, so they are at capacity to ensure health and safety of residents amid the COVID pandemic, Pulsaski said.

“Those will be the only two base camps remaining in operation,” he said.

For state travel trailers, 1,150 have been deployed and 931 are occupied on private sites. A few are being used by essential workers at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, and 103 are occupied on the Rebecca Plantation group site along La. 311 near U.S. 90 in Schriever.

The state is leasing the Rebecca Plantation site from landowner Jake Giardina for about 250 spots.

Council members Steve Trosclair, Carl Harding, Jessica Domangue and others brought up needs residents have asked for at the site, including laundry service, a mailing address, Wi-Fi access and public transportation for residents and students.

“I just want to make sure that those things were things that were being worked on for the Rebecca Plantation area,” Domangue said.

Residents still seeking temporary housing can sign up at idashelteringla.com or by calling (844) 268-0301.

Harding envisions the Scott Lane and Williams base camps as staging areas for the long term as other temporary housing options grow.

“It was a wonderful thing to see so many people at the Scott Lane location to actually attain trailers. And I still have people within my district and other people within other districts that have contacted me in reference to housing. There are still people out there displaced.” Harding said. “Just recently I was contacted by a person that was still sleeping in their car.”

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Tent camps shrink as Terrebonne Ida victims move into trailers