CHARLOTTE COUNTY
After months of waiting, we can now see trailers meant for people who lost their homes to Hurricane Ian.
Previously, WINK News reported that a FEMA village was coming to Tranquility Lakes on Burnt Store Road. Now, we are getting a look at the property where it’s set up.
Between 30 and 40 trailers arrive at the staging area each day. The 10-acre site will be used as a preparation center where workers can inspect each one before shipping them off to families in need.
Charlotte County FEMA trailer staging area. (Credit: WINK News)
“They’re getting two to three dozen, sometimes a day, into this staging area,” said Keith Denning, deputy federal coordinating officer for FEMA.
Denning said it took about two weeks to build the site. It’ll help FEMA accelerate its distribution efforts.
“Right now, we have 130 units like this that are on private sites around Southwest Florida, and 39 that are in that are in commercial parks,” Denning said.
Denning expects that number to grow.
One spot, in particular, will be the Tranquility Lakes community on Burnt Store Road. The temporary site is already being set up and is expected to open in the next few weeks.
Tranquility Lakes FEMA village. (Credit: WINK News)
“We have approximately 50 there at the moment, and we are bringing them in every day,” said Denning.
Cape Coral City Councilman Tom Hayden said he’s excited to see a new option for people to turn to.
“It’s needed in our community because we really don’t have an area to place these trailers. And, you know, we we know, we still face a lot of hardship with people that don’t have homes and may not have homes for a while,” said Hayden.
FEMA said the agency does not have an exact timeline for how long the Tranquility Lakes site will remain open. The goal, for now, is to stay here as long as people are in need.
WINK NEWS