We welcome the temporary housing program undertaken by state government, with the blessing of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It will provide whatever it takes, whether mobile homes or recreational vehicles, even crew barges that can keep people in their communities.
For the longer term, FEMA has a direct housing program but it won't be until mid-November that units start arriving and then they will only be placed after clearing a number of hurdles, such as not being in a flood zone.
That is an age-old post-hurricane problem, making the emergencies in people's lives fit into the requirements of federal programs with well-intentioned but — is there a better word for it? — clunky bureaucratic rules.
In Terrebonne Parish, for example, there are an estimated 10,000 homes destroyed. FEMA aid for temporary lodging is an expedient that does not meet the need, as hotel rooms have filled up around the region.
Do what it takes, maybe our state's new motto after devastating storms of 2020 and 2021.
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