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Manufactured housing unit fails inspection, locked for days

7 years 5 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, September 29 2016 Sep 29, 2016 September 29, 2016 11:11 PM September 29, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

DENHAM SPRINGS - A man has been trying to get answers about his manufactured housing unit for the past week and a half. William Kelly finally got the keys to his mobile unit Thursday, after sleeping in his truck for weeks.

Water flooded his home, along with a truck last month. He lost everything.

An MHU was approved and dropped off on his property, next to his flooded home 10 days ago. Up until Thursday, he wasn't able to go inside. Kelly says it took four days for an electric crew to install a meter pole.

"Then once all that was done they finally got the steps in and it failed their final inspection due to a leaky faucet," he said.

That was Monday. Kelly says he's made a number of phone calls, but it still took four more days to get the keys.

FEMA says 10 days is quick. Once the unit is delivered, the entire process can take two to three weeks before a person moves in.

Two On Your Side asked FEMA why Kelly wasn't able to move in. Robin Smith with FEMA External Affairs says, "It's our duty to make sure survivors have a safe, functional and secure MHU. There may be occasions when delays occur but we are diligently working to fix any unforeseen issues that may occur during the installation process."

Kelly is happy to finally have a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in, but would have liked to move in a lot sooner.

"It's an organizational issue," he said. "Nobody knows what anybody else is doing. They don't have any organization over the contractors. So they're going out and doing what they think needs to be done trying to do their best, but they don't know about this other job over here that could be done in five minutes."

FEMA says there are about 550 mobile units on approved sites but only about 100 have people living in them.

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