Published: August 15, 2008 10:59 pm         

FEMA homes set up for Vigo flood victims

TERRE HAUTE — It probably isn’t just like home, but for 10 Vigo County families rendered homeless by June flooding, manufactured housing provided by FEMA is a safe and dry option for the time being.

“They’re not going to have grandmother’s picture up on the wall,” commented Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Mel Jenkins, noting that the devastation of losing one’s belongings in a flood is so severe that sometimes just getting one’s feet back on the ground is the most immediate goal.

Jenkins and others toured one of the new manufactured homes set up at 3848 S. Wellington Place in the Pine Forest Park on Friday afternoon near the Federal Correctional Complex.

Of the 10 slated for Vigo County, two families already have been selected to fill them, he said.

“There’s a good rental stock in Terre Haute,” Jenkins said, noting that the agency’s goal is to use private sector housing to its max before bringing in new facilities.

But for those chosen on a “case-by-case” basis, the manufactured homes come move-in ready, complete with furniture and personal kits with silverware, brooms, pillow sheets and glassware.

“Many of these people lost everything they had,” Jenkins said, noting that people who had $500,000 homes destroyed received roughly the same amount of aid as those with lower-income housing.

And these homes are not meant to be long term, he said.

“The normal length of time is 18 months,” he said, noting that within that period of time the families’ homes should either be repaired or replaced.

The homes brought in by FEMA came straight off the lot, according to Jenkins, and have been checked and inspected and approved for this usage.

Once finished here, “they can be taken back to the depots and refurbished and made ready for the second round.”

John Erickson, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, noted that the process of getting flood victims back onto dry ground has been multi-agency.

“We’re partnering with FEMA on the response,” he said, adding that Hoosiers are needing help, and they’re there to give it.

Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.