Ida Shelters program is over, but people are not being evicted yet, officials say

The Ida Shelter program ended, but residents remain in campers as state and parish governments work out how to close the program.

The state-funded Ida Shelters program provided Hurricane Ida survivors campers after their homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable by the storm. These campers are separate from the FEMA trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Ida Shelter's programs official last day was April 30 , but Jacques Thibodeaux, the director of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, made a final play to assist survivors by providing parish governments two options: donate the campers to the parishes and allow them to maintain the program, or sell the campers directly to survivors.

Parish governments almost universally rejected the idea of accepting the campers, saying the program is just too expensive to maintain. But they are open to the idea of the campers being sold to residents. In Lafourche Parish, Parish President Archie Chaisson said he wants to help those who have followed the process. He told GOHSEP to evict those who haven't.

"I've been clear with that – even on the FEMA side – that if you have people that are not dealing with your case workers, who are not giving you updates, who are dodging you, then those people need to be evicted, because they haven't followed the process since day one," Chaisson said. "The people I am really worried about are the ones who are doing what they are supposed to be doing, who are dealing with insurance issues, dealing with one of the restoration programs, that truly need more time to be able to get back into their houses."

GOHSEP has the ability to sell the campers to residents regardless of the parish government's wishes, but has chosen not to at this time.

Five hundred fifty-two campers remain throughout the state. Terrebonne Parish has the most, with 253, Lafourche has 128, and St. Charles Parish has 60.

Chaisson said residents won't immediately get evicted. The governments involved have to work together to navigate this unprecedented process. The sales of the campers call into question the value of each one, the permitting surrounding where it is located, and narrowing down which residents have followed the process.

Chaisson said he doesn't want the campers to become permanent homes.

"Based on the call yesterday, there's not going to be an immediate eviction process, so it's going to take us some time to get through the permitting issues if they do end up selling them," Chaisson said. "For us it's just a matter of making sure that they don't become permanent dwellings for these people."

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According to GOHSEP Communications Director Mike Steele, case managers report the progress of the Ida Shelter residents to the state. That information then is relayed to the parishes.

Terrebonne Parish Communications Director Robbie Lee said the parish  government is entirely open to campers being sold to the residents.

St. Charles Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Jason Tastet said the parish is holding off on the sales to residents while they figure out how those sales would affect zoning laws.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Ida Shelters program is over, but people are not being evicted yet, officials say