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ctilsie242's avatar
ctilsie242
Explorer II
Sep 07, 2017

Wonder if RV makers will have another FEMA boom

With Harvey and the devastation it caused as well as the other ones, I am wondering what FEMA will be using for temporary housing. I wonder if this might be a boom for the RV industry with all the demand for trailers.
  • It is easy to forget that FEMA got all balled up there because of the demographics of the population and the demands placed on the federal government when the local and state (particularly the levee boards) had more than just dropped the ball.

    It was an embarrassment for all citizens.

    Matt
  • PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
    After the Katrina mess, FEMA is not going to buy anything less than 480 sq ft, less than 12 feet wide.

    40 x 12 is their minimum emergency housing standard. Plumbing with a full sized bathtub, 30 gallon hot water heater,120 & 240 power (no 12 v power), electric cooktops, household 16 cu ft fridge, etc.


    It's easy to say that until the politicians step in and say they don't care about the standards, get people some place to live.
  • After the Katrina mess, FEMA is not going to buy anything less than 480 sq ft, less than 12 feet wide.

    40 x 12 is their minimum emergency housing standard. Plumbing with a full sized bathtub, 30 gallon hot water heater,120 & 240 power (no 12 v power), electric cooktops, household 16 cu ft fridge, etc.
  • stickdog wrote:
    A number of carpenter contractors that do prefabs that could offer a better product than trailer manufactures do.


    Ya, but, then you get into Code problems. There is less Code on temporary movable trailers then what there is on homes, even prefab homes.

    And, that is a good thing. If you have people throwing up what they call Prefab Homes and saying that it is temporary you know that there will be some that stay in the permanently and then the next storm is worse because the houses were poorly made.
  • A number of carpenter contractors that do prefabs that could offer a better product than trailer manufactures do.
  • I see two scenarios happening:

    FEMA does buy trailers, because there isn't much else to turn to, as Houston has an order of magnitude more devastation than what Katrina unleashed.

    FEMA doesn't buy trailers, and people need to get something onto their property to live in, so they go and buy a travel trailer or other RV type anyway.

    Either way, Forest River and Thor will be selling a lot of trailers.
  • Perhaps there are lots of non-RVers who are thinking, what I need is a smaller house. One that I can move in a day's notice. Then, I can say, so what if my lot drowns.
  • FEMA may or may not but lots of snowbirds will need replacements and some other locals will want a trailer while they rebuild.

    It will be much different as the flooding is largely already done, except for a few key areas around resevours. Happens when you build above sea level.

    Big difference will be the type of trailers. The FEMA trailers were horrid things. I suspect the manufacturers didn't want competition when they came back on the used market so they were all plain white with minimal small windows and no big company logos. If it's private individuals buying, they won't accept the standard FEMA trailer.

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