FEMA considers using foreclosed homes to house storm victims in Volusia County

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
On the job – A FEMA mobile office set up shop in South DeLand after a devastating tornado on Feb. 2, 2007, tore out a swath of homes and businesses as it passed through. Temporary housing was available for those victims. FEMA is looking at ways to house people if a major catastrophe creates the need for more housing than can be provided in temporary shelters and FEMA trailers.

Volusia County has 1,683 bank-owned homes

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jun 17, 2009 - 9:09:36am

Could bank-owned homes house storm victims in the aftermath of a big hurricane?

FEMA is exploring the possibility.

“It all starts with the idea,” said Jeff Bryant, a coordinator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The idea of using foreclosed homes was one of 40 or 50 ideas discussed during recent FEMA brainstorming sessions.

As of June 11, according to RealtyTrac, a total of 1,683 homes in Volusia County were owned by banks after being taken in foreclosures. RealtyTrac is a real-estate-market clearinghouse that closely tracks foreclosures.

The memory of hurricanes Katrina and Rita hitting the Gulf Coast is still fresh in the minds of many, along with the memory of thousands of people displaced, scattered throughout the region, and living in makeshift circumstances after the storms. It was another trauma added to the trauma of the storm itself.

So, why not use the foreclosed houses?

(Read about how empty, foreclosed homes pose a threat in hurricane season.)

Evacuees could stay in homes closer to their homes, instead of in FEMA trailers, or camped out in sports domes far away.

“There are two pieces of this, to keep it in context,” Bryant said. “This was one of 40 or 50 ideas that came out of the exercise.”

Fuel, food and water were other priority topics.

There’s a lot to be done before hurricane victims could move into empty houses. FEMA officials will consult with their legal staff, as well as with cooperating agencies, and banking and real-estate interests.

The idea expressed during brainstorming was, FEMA would obtain a list of available homes from banks and other mortgage-holders. FEMA staff would act as agents, handling rent payments to the owner. Liability insurance and getting utility services would have to be worked out.

More meetings will be scheduled to look at these concerns, Bryant said. “We’ll be taking a hard look at it over the next weeks and months.”

He noted the plan would go into effect only after a major catastrophe, when usual sources of shelter are tapped out or wiped out.

Volusia Emergency Management Director Charlie Craig said the idea hasn’t come down to local agencies yet.

“I guess it will be put on the table,” he said.

He has heard of using old military installations, which would already have infrastructure in place, as temporary shelters, though there are still things to be ironed out with that concept, too.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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