In the years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, thousands of their
victims who received shelter in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers
have sued the trailer manufacturers for auto products liability because
of illnesses they sustained from exposure to high levels of formaldehyde
in the mobile homes.
Some 143,000 trailers were used as emergency housing units following the
two storms. Later, federal tests on hundreds of FEMA mobile homes in Mississippi
and Louisiana determined that the levels of formaldehyde (a carcinogen
linked to breathing problems) found in the trailers was about five times
greater than what can be found in modern homes.
FEMA trailer lawyers representing clients have accused the trailer manufacturers
of using poor methods and materials in an attempt to quickly construct
the mobile homes to meet FEMA’s demand for temporary residences
on the Gulf Coast following both hurricanes.
One plaintiff, Elisha Dubuclet, says the high levels of formaldehyde that
she and her family were exposed to while living in a FEMA trailer aggravated
her daughter’s eczema and increased her chances of getting cancer.
Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. made the trailer where Dubuclet’s family
lived. Other FEMA trailer residents have complained of breathing problems,
eye, throat, and nose irritation, and nausea.
Trailer residents were not the only ones made ill from exposure to the
high levels of formaldehyde. According to a CBS News report, Linda Esparza
and Tommy Yager, a mother and son who worked on the construction of some
of the FEMA trailers, say they experienced flu like symptoms and fatigue
as a result. The two of them built the trailers for Gulf Stream Coach,
an RV maker contracted to make 50,000 trailers as quickly as possible.
At one point in 2006, Gulf Stream Coach was producing over 100 trailers
each day—that’s triple the rate of regular production.
In July 2008, officials for Gulf Stream Coach, Forest River, Keystone
RV, and Pilgrim International testified before the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee. They admitted that they knew the FEMA trailers
they made for the hurricane victims contained unsafe levels of formaldehyde.
Deal in works to resolve some FEMA trailer claims, AP/Google, December 2, 2009
Manufacturers say they knew of FEMA trailer health risks, Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 2008
Did Trailer Makers Know About Toxic Fumes?, CBS, July 8, 2008
Related Web Resources:
FEMA Moving 35,000 Hurricane Katrina Families Out of Toxic Trailers, Product Liability Law Blog, February 18, 2008
Federal Emergency Management Agency
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Contact our auto products liability lawyers to schedule your free case evaluation. RV manufacturers can be held liable for auto products liability if a defective auto part or another hazard in their mobile home was the cause of someone’s injury, illness, or death.
