FEMA Exposes Hurricane Katrina Victims To Contamination

Nearly
three years ago hurricane Katrina destroyed almost every thing it
touched in the Gulf region. No one can forget the scenes of people
stranded in the street of New Orleans begging for help. Although
there was significant damage, many people survived Katrina.
Unfortunately for the survivors their homes were destroyed and they
had no place to call home.

Due
to the large number of displaced people, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) ordered
nearly $3 billion dollars worth of mobile homes and trailers in the
days following hurricane
Katrina. The request to manufacturers was only 25 lines long,
with no safety requirements or other specifications stated in the
request. Shortly after Katrina survivors began living in the
trailers and mobile homes, they began experiencing breathing
difficulty, eye irritation and, in some cases, death.

The
cause of these health problems was an exposure to high levels of
Formaldehyde,
a known by product from manufacturing many materials found in the
mobile homes and trailers. According to the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), exposure to
Formaldehyde can cause cancer,
eye
irritation, and other problems.

According
to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
Formaldehyde exposure
more than fifteen minutes. After that, people exposed can begin
experiencing symptoms. To date, approximately 17,000 people have
experienced health complications allegedly due to Formaldehyde
exposure from living in their FEMA
trailer.