Hurricane Katrina Victims Will Sue for Formaldehyde Exposure

Victims of Hurricane Katrina have joined together to sue the makers of mobile homes and travel trailers that were provided to the victims as housing after the hurricane because the victims claim that they were exposed to harmful levels of formaldehyde, according to the firm that will be representing them. More than 500 residents of Louisiana who stayed in the mobile homes and trailers after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina have sought representation against the manufacturer of these housing units. The case was filed in federal court on Tuesday. The complaint states that housing laws were broken and that the housing units exposed the displaced residents "...at a dangerously unhealthy rate."

The mobile homes and trailers that are in question were provided to the victims of Hurricane Katrina by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA during the Fall of 2005. The federal government ordered tens of thousands of these mobile homes and trailers and the demand, according to the complaint, made the manufacturers sacrifice quality control. According to the law firm handling the case, the demand for mobile home until and trailers caused the manufacturers to run out of supplies of building materials such as particle board, composite wood, and adhesives from suppliers who sold low-formaldehyde emitting products. Since the suppliers of low-formaldehyde emitting materials ran out of supplies, the manufacturers turned to suppliers that sold higher-formaldehyde emitting materials.

The victims of Hurricane Katrina that resided in these housing units that were made with supplies that have higher levels of formaldehyde are being represented by attorneys Tony Buzbee and Peter Taaffe from Buzbee Law Firm in Galveston, Texas, and attorney John Munoz from Garner & Munoz from New Orleans.