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The first temporary housing units have been delivered to Alabama residents impacted by the recent devastating tornadoes, FEMA announced today.

Eleven units arrived Saturday for residents in the town of Phil Campbell, according to a FEMA statement. That area – located in Franklin County – is an area with an extreme shortage of available rental housing and apartments, according to the statement.

“Additional housing will be provided by FEMA and the State of Alabama to other counties where the demand for housing is greater than the supply,” according to the statement.

Manufactured housing is provided as the option of last resort in areas with limited available rental housing, according to the FEMA statement. FEMA will not provide travel trailers or mobile homes to disaster survivors – even those who lived in mobile homes before the tornadoes – if other forms of temporary housing are available, according to the statement.

“Once every other housing option is exhausted, we can bring in temporary housing units, such as manufactured housing,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Michael F. Byrne.

If a temporary housing unit cannot be set up on the applicant’s lot, it will be set up on an existing pad in a private or commercial mobile home park.

“We are working to house families as close to home as possible,” said Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Art Faulkner.

The mobile homes and park models are temporary housing for displaced residents while they seek permanent housing or wait for extensive repairs to be completed. Those living in the units will have their cases reviewed each month to determine their eligibility for continued FEMA assistance. Survivors can live in the units up to 18 months.

Each unit is equipped with a NOAA weather radio and meets strict specifications for indoor air quality, according to the FEMA statement.

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