Mold On FEMA Trailers Prompts Anger from Midwest Flood Victims

It's more trouble for FEMA, this time over mold that has been discovered in disaster trailers put up for victims of flooding in the Midwest.

The Associated Press reports that mold has been discovered on the exterior water heater compartments of trailers issued by the federal agency in central Indiana. As a result, inspections are commencing of hundreds of trailers used, or in storage, in the region. Over the weekend, Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge ordered FEMA to remove any moldy trailers and pay for temporary housing for residents living in them.

The good news is mold has not been found in the interior living spaces of the trailers, although officials have criticized the trailers' design, singling out the structure's inclusion of drywall under aluminum panels as a potential problem area for mold.

Replacements are being made on the trailers in question, and further testing will be done. Ironically, Indiana is where the so-called "toxic trailers" were made, which got FEMA in hot water after Katrina victims complained of unsafe levels of formaldehyde in indoor air.

COMMENTS ()