Emergency Management Officials Concerned Aid Going Unused

Thousands of trailers for evacuees of Gulf Coast hurricanes are sitting empty and idle at a Federal Emergency Management Agency lot in Arkansas. And, officials in Missouri are wondering why. Carol Nutt with the Southwest Missouri Long-Term Recovery Committee was one of dozens of governmental and non-governmental agency representatives who met in Jefferson City to discuss the plight of the estimated 17,000 evacuees still in this state. She says those trailers could do some real good for evacuees she helps. But Nutt says FEMA officials tell her the trailers can only be in the actual areas hit by the hurricanes, even if those areas cannot take them because there’s no water or electricity. FEMA won’t comment.