While nobody on Fort Myers Beach has yet been approved for a trailer, that doesn’t mean no one will.

Many residents had hoped to receive a trailer on their property after Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie had stated at an informational meeting a few weeks after Hurricane Ian that the state had thousands ready to go in addition to Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers. However, many Fort Myers Beach residents are finding that their applications are being rejected due to the location of their properties in a flood plain. The state won’t provide trailers if FEMA rejects them.

“FEMA allows travel trailers in Fort Myers Beach, as long as their placement abides by the local floodplain ordinance and is determined to be feasible,” FEMA Media Relations Manager Michael Wade said. “The local ordinance allows the placement of travel trailers and recreational vehicles as long as they don’t contribute to the creation or expansion of a new RV park, are properly anchored and elevated to the base flood elevation (BFE). The BFE is the minimum amount that a structure would need to be elevated to be relatively safe from a 1% annual chance flooding event.”

Wade said no FEMA units have yet been placed in Fort Myers Beach.  “Whether a unit will be placed there will be based on the overall feasibility of the site (lot size, utility connection, local setback rules, etc.), in addition to passing the local, state, and federal floodplain requirements,” Wade stated in an email.

Fort Myers Beach resident Cindy Johnson applied for a trailer while she and husband Steve Johnson rebuild their home. Officials from FEMA visited their property and measured it for a trailer though there hasn’t been an official word if they will be approved for a trailer. After waiting, Johnson applied to the state for a trailer but was told at an informational meeting last Friday that the state will not approve trailers if FEMA doesn’t.

“If (FEMA’s) program doesn’t allow a trailer on your property, my program won’t allow a trailer on your property,” Guthrie said Friday. “The same rule applies to the coastal high hazard area and the flood plain. I can not put a trailer there either,” Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said. “Even if FEMA releases you to us, we are still going to be in the same boat because we can’t put a trailer in a flood plain or a high hazard area.”

Any property along Estero Boulevard on the Gulf of Mexico side, is in a high hazard area where trailers have been ruled out.

Other sites may be available. While FEMA may not provide trailers to residents in high-hazard flood zones, residents are allowed to purchase their own, said Town of Fort Myers Beach Interim Manager Chris Holley.

Holley said he was supposed to meet with FEMA officials Tuesday to discuss the issue. “They can’t put these trailers in a high-hazard flood zone,” he said. “Most of the island is in that area.” 

Sites in Coastal High Hazard Areas are not being approved due to the risk associated with them, Wade said. “Sites in the other high risk zones (AE, AH, A, etc) are being approved on a case-by-case basis, depending on the difference between the ground elevation and the base flood Elevation. Travel Trailers can only be elevated 18 inches off the ground,” Wade stated in an email.

Johnson said her home is in the AE zone. “We put in an application to the state. The state said we are eligible,” she stated.

Johnson said most people are being denied trailers. She hopes to learn more this week from FEMA. She said a trailer would be a big help to the rebuilding efforts she and Mr. Johnson are undertaking. “Other people don’t even have a house,” she said. They only need a trailer for a couple of months while they repair their home.

“Trailers would be a big help for everyone.” Ms. Johnson said. “You can get a lot more done. When you are around your neighbors, you get more information.”

Johnson said some people are living in RV’s. She thinks she and others in town would have purchased RV’s sooner but thought the state and FEMA would be providing trailers by now.

Under the Florida Division of Emergency Management, installation of a travel trailer/RV is dependent entirely on the local regulations and permit processing by the county as well as local/state floodplain restrictions and Environmental and Historic Preservation requirements.  

The state placed the first trailer on Pine Island last week and are currently working with applicants from multiple pockets within Lee County including Fort Myers Beach to conduct application eligibility reviews and site inspections for feasibility in all of these areas including Fort Myers Beach, said Amelia Johnson, deputy director of Communications and External Affairs for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

“There are no easy answers,” Holley said.