FEMA sending manufactured homes to Cobleskill

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is transporting manufactured homes to Cobleskill as the agency prepares to meet the needs of dozens or more families displaced by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

FEMA spokesman Chris McKniff said it’s unclear precisely how many of the homes are being brought in but he expects more than 20 to be delivered today and Friday.

The agency has been evaluating needs in flood-stricken areas and began pointing displaced flood survivors to areas where rental space is available.

“We continuously look at all housing needs,” McKniff said.

The agency also has mobile homes, but manufactured housing is considered more-appropriate in the Northeast due to winter, he said.

FEMA Individual Assistance staff members will be evaluating the need for housing and then find appropriate places for the units.

That process will entail avoiding flood zones and, ideally, finding sites where power and wastewater services are available.

McKniff said Cobleskill will serve as a staging area for the housing units which will then be transported again to places where they can be set up.