PUNTA GORDA - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered 8,000 mobile homes and trailers from around the nation to serve as temporary housing for the victims of Hurricane Charley.
FEMA wants to begin moving the homeless out of the stifling closeness of shelter life and into their own places as early as this week.
It's welcome news. On Sunday morning, Charlotte County's biggest shelter - a middle school - shut down. School district officials needed to move people in order to prepare for classes, which start Aug. 30.
Many of the hurricane victims moved to other shelters, located in churches and community centers. A few found housing, either with the help of FEMA, friends or through sheer luck.
But hundreds may be forced to stay in emergency shelters for several more days, if not weeks. Red Cross officials said they have enough food, water and volunteers to help everyone.
"We can keep people for as long as it's needed," said Red Cross spokeswoman Susan Campbell.
The Red Cross provides only emergency, temporary shelter. About 2,000 people around the state are still in shelters, although the number fluctuates from day to day. Campbell estimates that the Red Cross has sheltered about 100,000 people since the storm and fed more than 1-million.
In the coming weeks, the Red Cross will pass on the task of temporary lodging to private insurance companies and FEMA.
"We want to close those emergency shelters up," said Ken Burris, FEMA's Southeast regional director.
Burris said FEMA is working on a variety of options, from temporary housing to roof repair, from travel trailers to rent assistance, to help the homeless.
As of Sunday afternoon, about 103,000 people have applied for FEMA assistance, Burris said. About 50 percent of those people will qualify for some sort of help.
Burris expects about 5,000 people will need the temporary housing, but FEMA ordered extra trailers just in case.
"We want to make sure we've got what we need," he said. "We don't have to take delivery of 8,000 of them. We're still in the very first days of trying to evaluate what's happened in these impacted areas."
People who receive the trailers are expected to find other arrangements - whether it's a new apartment or a fixed roof - within a few months, although people can live in them up to 18 months if needed. Burris said FEMA will not erect the communal tents that were commonplace after Hurricane Andrew because many of the homeless here are elderly and would have difficulty living in such conditions.
Burris also said that the housing situation here is 45-60 days ahead of where it was at this time after Hurricane Andrew.
For those still in the shelters, there is a deep desperation for permanent housing. They must conduct their private business - changing their clothes, scolding children - in front of others. Most store their clothes in plastic bags. Everyone feels grimy.
On Sunday morning, many of the people moving out of the L.A. Ainger Middle School in Englewood had been there for more than a week. They looked tired, harried and defeated.
Before they were left homeless by Charley, they already were among the community's neediest residents, living paycheck to paycheck. The hurricane has overwhelmed their finances and lives.
Campbell and other Red Cross workers see the confusion in their eyes. "They get to a point where they can't make decisions," Campbell said.
Wayne Wagner is at such a point.
The 42-year-old day laborer stayed in his downtown Punta Gorda apartment during the storm. He sent his son and his son's pregnant girlfriend north to safety.
Wagner's apartment was partly destroyed by the hurricane, yet he stayed for four nights because he didn't want his few belongings stolen. He saw the stars from his living room because he had no roof. When the rains came, he shifted some photos and the urn containing his wife's ashes into the bedroom, which had a roof.
On Tuesday, his son returned and persuaded Wagner to go with them to the middle school shelter.
The three have been there since. Wagner spent his days smoking cigarettes, while his son napped and his son's girlfriend - in her ninth month - flopped on an air mattress and read What to Expect When You're Expecting.
On Sunday morning, Wagner reeked of smoke and dark half-moons sat under his eyes.
Wagner is worried he will be separated from his son, who has the family's only car. He is concerned they will end up in a shelter in Sarasota County, miles from the Punta Gorda area, where he knows people and can possibly find work.
Also weighing on his mind: his grandchild, who will be born any day.
He said that FEMA sent a $1,000 check to his home, but he's unsure what to do with it. He didn't have renter's insurance, and he doesn't have any savings. He wasn't aware that the trailers may be available later in the week.
Wagner said he is having a hard time making decisions, in part because he can't think straight. He slept little in the noisy gymnasium. Babies cried. Some of the hundreds of people shuffled around. Right now, he just wants to make it through the move to a new shelter. After that, he will think about a new home.
"It just seems like one big, long day," Wagner said. "It just made my mind blank. I don't know what to do. I can't take any more change."
- Tamara Lush can be reached at 727 893-8612 or at lush@sptimes.com
