GALVESTON, Texas — Twelve families living in Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile homes in the Schreiber Field park have until April 30 to move before FEMA closes the park.
Under the deal FEMA made with Galveston school district to lease the 9-acre site at 83rd Street and Stewart Road, FEMA agreed to remove the mobile homes by April.
Although the city agreed to extend the deadline for FEMA mobile homes through July 9, those living in Schreiber Field must be out sooner so the school district can reclaim the land.
Before Hurricane Ike struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, the grassy field was used by Galveston Little League teams and cheerleaders.
The district early last year signed a lease with FEMA to provide the site for 54 mobile homes. The district did not get any money from FEMA, but the district did ask to reap the benefits of any improvements the federal agency makes to the site, including fencing and lighting.
Eight of the 12 families have signed up for help with Recovery for Ike Survivors Enterprise, called RISE.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave RISE, operated by Lutheran Social Services, $24.3 million to pay case managers to canvass the county and find people who need help.
The agency contacted the other four families to help them transition out of the mobile homes, Bernard Scroggin, of Lutheran Social Service Disaster Response, said.
The FEMA mobile home park in High Island, the only other FEMA park in the county, will remain open through July 9 unless Galveston County officials request that it be closed. Twenty-five families remain in mobile homes there.
There are 448 families still living in FEMA mobile homes in Galveston County.
Mainland Editor T.J. Aulds contributed to this report.
