Tornado victims may get trailers

Some of the thousands of trailers sitting unused since they were purchased by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2005 for Gulf Coast hurricane victims may finally be put to use -- to help victims of last week’s tornadoes.

Some members of Congress have accused FEMA of playing down the danger of possible formaldehyde contamination in the trailers -- more than 6,300 of them stored at the Hope airport -- but an agency spokesman said that the trailers were safe.

The decision to use some of the trailers for Arkansas and Tennessee twister victims comes after requests by state officials and members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation, who have criticized the trailers in the past as a sign of federal ineptitude after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

David Maxwell, head of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said his office told the federal emergency agency immediately after the tornadoes that the victims would need some of the trailers.