No Place To Go | Video

Jenny Castro | 6/21/2012

Even though summer has just begun, winter doesn`t seem very far away for the 1,400 families living in temporary FEMA housing in Minot. By then, flood victims will have to move out, even if they don`t have anywhere else to go.

The FEMA trailers were never intended to be permanent housing. For people who have no where else to go, the thought of moving out of them with no alternative is frightening.

"We`re scared to death. We have no idea what`s going to happen. And then to be told that our evacuation date is in the dead of winter. Anybody who`s been in a Minot winter knows that there`s no way you can move a family in the middle of that chaos," said flood victim Honey Pabst.

The deadline for people living in FEMA trailers to transition to permanent housing is the end of December.

"Eighteen months. That`s the temporary housing program, that`s the schedule we`re on," said Ed Conley with FEMA External Affairs.

If FEMA doesn`t extend the temporary housing date deadline, the people we talked to today say they may have no choice but to leave North Dakota.

"I see myself leaving North Dakota and I really don`t want to do that but that`s just the point we`re at. There`s nothing we can afford here," said flood victim Angel Pabst.

Angel isn`t the only one in this FEMA group housing site making travel plans.

"I have siblings, nieces, nephews, you know I have a really good church. I don`t want to have to go but I have to do what I have to do to survive."

Both Honey and Angel have never lived anywhere else but North Dakota, but they are facing the same harsh reality that everyone else in a FEMA trailer is facing: limited affordable housing.

"I work six days a week. There`s just no way. I mean even if there was finance, there`s no time. You know we`re busting our butts just trying to survive," Honey said.

FEMA representatives meet with displaced flood victims every month to inform them of housing opportunities and assist them in finding a permanent place to live.

"September is my deadline, if I don`t find anything, I`m gone," Angel said.

The end of December is the deadline for everyone else in FEMA housing, unless an extension is granted.

FEMA has not made a decision on any housing extensions and hasn`t said when it will come.

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