For Immediate Release:
March 9, 2006 

WASHINGTON D.C - U.S. Congressmen Dan Boren (D-Muskogee) and Tom Cole (R-Moore) today called on FEMA to make approximately 150 of the more than 10,000 manufactured homes sitting unused in Hope, Arkansas available to Oklahomans in need of housing as a result of the wildfires.

 

“FEMA has already paid for these homes, but they’re just sitting in Arkansas,” Boren said.  “We have more than 300 Oklahoma families who have had their houses destroyed by these fires.  It just seems a natural fit.”

 

“Oklahoma is already under a federal disaster declaration,” Cole said.  “Rather than allow these homes to sit unused and continue to deteriorate, we want them made available to Oklahomans who need them.”

 

Wildfires have charred more than 500,000 acres in Oklahoma.  As of Tuesday, the state was reporting that 300 homes had been destroyed and nearly 600 more damaged as a result of the wildfires sweeping the state.

 

“It’s not a Katrina-scale disaster, but it’s still a disaster,” Boren said.  “Oklahomans should have the full resources of FEMA available to them.”

 

“This option makes sense for Oklahoma,” Cole said.  “Many of the families that lost their homes to the wildfires live on farms where they need to tend to livestock and crops.”

 

Boren and Cole made their request in a joint letter to acting FEMA Director David Paulison.

####