FEMA could set up trailers to house thousands of displaced New Yorkers

From left: Janet Napolitano and damaged homes in the Far Rockaways section of Queens
From left: Janet Napolitano and damaged homes in the Far Rockaways section of Queens

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started inspecting homes in Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn in order to assess the needs for temporary housing in New York City, the New York Daily News reported.

The agency may set up trailers to house the thousands of displaced New Yorkers, the News said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 New York City residents were at least temporarily homeless, while the city’s Department of Housing and Urban Development put the estimate closer to 20,000.

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“Every option is on the table,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at a news conference today. “We don’t really have a good sense of the number who are going to need temporary housing.”

Napolitano did not provide an estimate for when the trailers would arrive, or when the decision about implementing that solution would be made. About 4,800 FEMA workers are currently in the area, she said. [NYDN] –Guelda Voien