New Orleans Boots Residents Out of Last FEMA Trailers

In the five years since Hurricane Katrina, FEMA trailers have been a fixture of the New Orleans landscape—but by the start of next year, the city wants the last ones gone. It calls the 221 remaining trailers an eyesore, and says residents will have to pay fines—as much as $500 a day—if they don't move out. But leaving could be tough for those who have come to call the trailers home, the AP reports.

The city says it will take individual cases into account. “There may be some lingering, for that little old lady who has no place and no money,” says an official. Still, she says many remaining trailer residents simply haven't done enough to get out. "People have to assume some responsibility for their decision." One resident found a “notice of violation” letter on his door just before Christmas, calling it “worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge himself.” “I don't know what the big deal about trailers is," he says. "It's not like a hundred trailers is going to make the city look any worse than it is.”
(More FEMA stories.)