Pitted against one another, disaster survivors are all faced with the same predicament: where to call home. Renters, experts say, often struggle the most.
Anjali Nair / NBC News; Getty ImagesThree years ago, Pamela Lack thought she had found the house she would retire in.
The home they had hoped to buy was destroyed, and their current home was being sold out from under them. Suddenly the Lacks had 60 days to find a new place to live.Courtesy Pamela Lack In the aftermath of a natural disaster, many people need places to stay immediately. Displaced renters search for new leases or hotels. Homeowners who lost houses or need to make repairs join the rental market. Disaster workers and contractors tasked to make repairs are on the hunt for their own short-term hotels and apartments. Experts say this puts pressure on the amount of available housing.
Prices shot upward; one year after the fire the median asking rent for a two-bedroom rental was 25 percent higher than it had been at the same time the previous year. Sandi Bauman, broker associate at Chico Homes Real Estate Sales Inc., told NBC News that some of her clients were scrambling to buy just a week or two after losing homes to the fire. “People weren’t looking for their dream home,” said Bauman. “They just didn’t want to park in the tent city.”
Renters in theory are supported by a FEMA program that will pay for an applicant’s hotel fees, but experts say that availability often limits execution. And many people couldn’t afford to leave, even if housing in a nearby county was available. “Many of our clients that stayed did it because the storm hit at the beginning of the month. They had just paid their rent and had no money to leave,” Albritton said.
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