FEMA Proposes Nightmare On Top Of Nightmare

 

FEMA Proposes Nightmare On Top Of Nightmare

The Latest Proposal That Will Not Work

By Dell Hill

 

FEMA’s answer to several hundred homeless Vermonters

With Winter coming on like gang busters, single-wide mobile homes built for areas of the country with no snowfall and no sub-zero cold are being proposed by FEMA as housing for several hundred Vermonters left homeless by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.  Without major, costly changes and additions, the eleventh hour answer to this problem simply will not work.

The “home” pictured above is one of ten such units delivered to Vermont by FEMA and currently under inspection by State authorities as temporary housing for victims of the storm that ripped Vermont’s infrastructure to the tune of billions of dollars to repair or replace and the hundreds of families left homeless.  What those inspectors will find should be obvious without even setting foot inside.  

The nearly flat roof is constructed of 2” x 2” lightly gusseted rafters, which would undoubtedly collapse under the first foot of Winter snow.  If that snow was moisture laden, it would take only six inches to cave it in.

The walls, ceilings and floors are constructed of similar, lightweight building materials and the insulation factor is extremely low.  That fact would jack up heating costs to an outrageous amount of money over the course of an entire Winter.  Every New Englander would tell you “this would be a nice Summer camp”, but they wouldn’t want to fall asleep in it during a snowstorm.

Vermont usually gets 8-10 FEET of snow each Winter and many of those storms are of the wet, heavy variety.  And it’s not uncommon for Vermonters to experience cold snaps of 20-30 below zero weather for weeks at a time.  

FEMA officials admit that the proposed homes may not be suited to sustain a Vermont Winter and have suggested that the units be skirted and heat tapes installed to prevent water pipes from freezing; a common occurrence even in well insulated, built-for-New England-weather type dwellings.  The fact of the matter is, you’d have to install heat tape on every square inch of water pipes and have the tape turned on 24/7 for about six months…and the pipes still might freeze.  The cost in electricity alone would boggle your mind.  

They also suggested a canopy style structure to be placed over the flat roof to act similar to a carport.  Such a structure would do more to create a refrigerator that would tend to hold the cold and dampness in, rather than keep the house warm and well ventilated.  

No mention was made of a concrete slab that would be needed to keep the entire home reasonably level.  Apparently the FEMA folks are not aware that frost heaves have been known to move an entire building several inches up, down or sideways.  Such a slab would cost several thousand dollars for land prep and the actual pouring of concrete.  And the longer they wait, the higher the risk of frost getting into the ground, making the land prep that much more expensive.

I don’t have the specs on the heating system hardware, but past experience with such buildings indicates the installation of a furnace with the very minimal BTU output, which means the furnace would pretty much run constantly just to maintain a reasonable amount of warmth.  Thin walls, medium “E” windows and doors with minimal insulation would only cause the furnace to work even harder, increasing the cost even higher.

In short, the entire proposal is yet another nightmare, the cost of which would be so incredibly high that it would be better to subsidize the victim’s rent on standard housing, if enough standard rental properties could be found.  Otherwise, the nightmare of Irene will be followed by the nightmare of FEMA and a seriously lame-brained idea.

The State Inspectors are scheduled to complete their work sometime this week.  They’d better.  Snow flurries are forecast for the higher elevations in just a few days.

Editor’s Note:  Dell Hill is a native Vermonter, having survived 62 of his 66 years in the Green Mountain State.  He has a fairly good idea of what Winter is all about.

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Rich Mitchell

Rich Mitchell is the editor-in-chief of Conservative Daily News and the president of Bald Eagle Media, LLC. His posts may contain opinions that are his own and are not necessarily shared by Bald Eagle Media, CDN, staff or .. much of anyone else. Find him on twitter, facebook and

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One Comment

  1. Are these people at FEMA incompetent or just plain nuts, Dell? Any idea on what the taxpayer was bilked for in the purchase of these trailers? This is a perfect example of how out of touch with reality these Liberal lunatics running our government truly are today! What is the state doing about this fiasco, or are they as stupid as the national FEMA goofs who ordered them sent there?

    1. DJ, It’s mind-boggling to even think about how totally incompetent these people are. One would reasonably think they would have made such a proposal and received a polite “no, thanks; that won’t work” report from state officials BEFORE they decided on spending the time, money and effort in getting them here. You know, a common sense approach, but nooooo. It’s just another example of “if you need something screwed up, involve the government – they’re pros”.

      I haven’t seen or heard any followup from state officials and it wouldn’t surprise me if they never broach the subject again. It’s simply a total embarrassment and nobody wants any part of that.

  2. So when the snow falls and it hits 30 below, they will sit there empty, but someone got paid for them. Then they will ring up a huge repair bill re-piping all of them when the pipes freeze as you mentioned. In the end they will have to sell them for pennies on the dollar. Time for more taxes up there to pay for this incompetence.

    1. I spoke with an extremely reliable source within the state government system today. When I asked about these trailers it took him ten minutes to stop laughing. “They won’t have to worry about the electric bill,” he suggested. “The occupants will be froze to death before they get the first bill”. He honestly didn’t know what the price tag was, but suggested the total price will be included in the Obama administration’s report of FEMA aid to Vermont.

      These units would be ideal for temporary shelter in an area south of the Mason-Dixon Line – Well south of it.

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