More than 1,100 families across Texas have moved into FEMA trailers, but don't expect to see the mobile homes in Houston anytime soon.

That's because local regulations mostly restrict manufactured housing units and recreational vehicles to mobile home parks, and city officials have not lifted those rules in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, is under the impression Houston has opted out of its mobile home programs entirely.

The result: More than four months after Harvey, not a single Houston family has been able to move into a FEMA trailer, the state's chief temporary housing option for flood victims.

"People are displaced. People are living in apartments that are dangerous to their health and safety. If there are options for safe housing, they should be taken advantage of," said Madison Sloan, who manages disaster recovery projects for the Austin-based advocacy group Texas Appleseed. "What we saw after Katrina and other major disasters was cities waiving restrictions on the placement of temporary housing units on residential property so people could have a safe place to live on their property while they rebuild their home. And if that's not happening, that's a problem and a real delay in people's ability to recover."

STRIPPED TO THE STUDS: Houston families who lost housing during Harvey find sleep where they can

Mayor Sylvester Turner's communications staff did not respond to repeated requests for comment Thursday about whether the mayor is considering loosening or suspending the city's mobile home regulations to provide housing options for Houstonians whose homes Harvey flooded.

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Two hours after the Chronicle published its story, however, city housing director Tom McCasland said the policy is under review due to "current housing demand, and considering how long it may take for dollars to flow from Washington to Austin to Houston."

The city has estimated that the storm damaged more than 311,000 houses and apartments, roughly a third of the housing stock. Many of those families have cobbled together their own solutions, but thousands still await help.

McCasland said the city has not opted out of FEMA's trailer programs, but is instead focusing on implementing federally-funded repair and rental initiatives.

Those, too, have yet to provide any housing for Houston flood victims.

LESSONS LEARNED: In Baton Rouge, warnings from a quick-hit FEMA program



"The fact that there are zero trailers ready for move-in inside the city of Houston is not due to the ordinance," McCasland said. "Our department has offered the (state's General Land Office) assistance in identifying RV parks inside the city where we could place trailers."

There are roughly 6,200 permitted commercial spots for manufactured housing or RVs in Houston, but city officials could not say how many of them currently are vacant and, thus, available to Harvey victims.

Brittany Eck, a spokeswoman for the land office, which is overseeing the implementation of FEMA's temporary housing programs, challenged McCasland's version of events.

"I spoke with the top three staff members overseeing these FEMA programs and they have not been contacted regarding commercial sites within the city limits," Eck said in a text message Thursday night.

FEMA housing programs are among the assistance options for Texans who have had trouble finding a safe place to live since Harvey damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and apartments. Designed to be temporary, the initiatives offer refuge in the form of mobile homes, short-term apartment rentals or minor home repairs.

The state has had limited success with its repair and rental programs so far, with just two dozen units leased or repaired as of this week. Mobile homes, on the other hand, have been dispersed statewide, including around Houston.

STILL WAITING: More than 47,000 displaced by Harvey still wait for homes

More than 100 families have been able to move into an RV or manufactured housing in Harris County; 72 in Galveston County; 63 in Brazoria County; 15 in Fort Bend County; and seven in Montgomery County, according to FEMA.

Houston is not the only place where local regulations have stymied the state's temporary housing programs, Eck said, but she added that several other jurisdictions have adjusted their rules post-Harvey.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, meanwhile, emphasized the need for local control over recovery.

"They need to have that right, and Houston being one of them, to say we won't allow (manufactured housing units) or trailers in our communities," Bush said during a Thursday news conference in League City, where he appeared with a resident who recently moved into an RV.

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DEVELOPING STORM: Hurricane Harvey was the most destructive storm in Houston's history. The late-August storm dumped up to 60 inches of rain on southeast Texas, but the resulting damage was multiplied by actions taken ¬– and not taken – during the past 50 years. Our seven-part series explains why the storm's damage was both a natural and man-made disaster.

Part 1: Nature ruled, man reacted. Hurricane Harvey was Houston's reckoning

Part 2: Build, flood, rebuild: flood insurance's expensive cycle

Part 3: What's in Houston's worst flood zones? Development worth $13.5 billion

Part 4: Harvey overwhelmed some levee systems. Future storms could do worse.

Part 5: Officials patched and prayed while pressure built on Houston's dams

Part 6: For buyers within 'flood pools,' no warnings from developers, public officials

Part 7: In Harvey's wake, Dutch have much to teach Houston

Click here to read all of our Harvey coverage.

GET ENGAGED:

— Where do we go from here? Seven Houston-area leaders discussed flooding causes and solutions at a Greater Houston After Harvey forum hosted by the Houston Chronicle in early December. Watch Wednesday night's keynote address by Jim Blackburn, co-director of Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center. Read his thoughts on living around water.

— Sign up for our Facebook community to share your Harvey story, engage with other community members and ask our reporters questions.

— Join the discussion on Twitter: #HoustonAfterHarvey.

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