New Orleans is gearing up for another disaster, but this time it is of the man-made type. According to the New York Times, thousands of evacuees who have been living in trailers since Hurricane Katrina are being evicted by FEMA. With the demolition of public housing in New Orleans and rents skyrocketing around the city, displaced residents are beginning to panic about where they’ll end up. Although they were meant to be a temporary solution, the FEMA trailers have merely ended up containing what was almost guaranteed to become a major housing crisis.

No affordable housing can be built fast enough for the estimated 6,400 families who will be displaced across Louisiana when they are evicted from their trailers. Indeed, the homeless population in New Orleans has nearly doubled since before the hurricane, and hundreds of people are now camping out in front of city hall. Although it appears that our fear--that these communities of trailer parks would become permanent—was unfounded (see our Op-Ed from shortly after the hurricane), what now faces New Orleans and other communities across the South is potentially worse. Thousands of families risk being left with even fewer housing alternatives than they had before. FEMA has sworn that no family will be left without housing, and let’s hope they make good on that promise. The families of the Gulf Coast need real solutions to help them get back on their feet, including access to affordable, decent housing in communities where they are close to their jobs, transportation, and schools for their children.