Kids in Katrina Trailers May Face Lifelong Health Issues
The anguish of Hurricane Katrina should have ended for Gina Bouffanie and her daughter when they left their FEMA trailer. But with each hospital visit and each labored breath her child takes, the young mother fears it has just begun.
“It’s just the sickness. I can’t get rid of it. It just keeps coming back,” said Bouffanie, 27, who was pregnant with her now 15-month-old daughter, Lexi, while living in the trailer. “I’m just like, `Oh God, I wish like this would stop.’ If I had known it would get her sick, I wouldn’t have stayed in the trailer for so long.”
The girl, diagnosed with severe asthma, must inhale medicine from a breathing device. (Continue)
Tags: asthma, children, Hurricane Katrina, kids, trailers
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In 2002 went shopping for a new camper. We looked at different brands. The thing we noticed was that the campers that had more solid wood in the cabinets, instead of the pressed wood, had less smell. I can’t remember if every camper had a warning about the formaldahyde. But let me tell you. Our son was around 4 years old at the time. We went into a camper that had a horribly strong odor. It did have the warning sticker in there. He opened the bathroom door and the odor was so strong that as soon as he turned his head to look at us his eyes were watering very badly. It’s a wonder it didn’t knock him out because it was horrible from where I was standing and he was much closer. Needless to say, we got out of there and did not purchase that camper. Sadly, I have seen news reports that show the campers that were used after the hurricane. They are the same brand that we were in when my sons eyes watered. I couldn’t imagine our family being in there for a whole weekend of camping, muchless living in it. Yes the cost was a tiny bit cheaper than the one we ended up getting. But only by a couple hundred dollars. The one we ended up getting has been great. I really feel for the people that this will be affecting. It’s not like they had a chance to air the campers out before living in them. And it was too hot for them to just have the windows open to air out. My prayers are with them.