Indian Lake, Logan County and Ohio state representatives gathered at RV Wholesalers (RVW) in Lakeview on Monday, April 1, to discuss a disaster relief plan. RVW owner David Durnell recommended purchasing 250 campers as temporary housing at a cost of $8 million.
Matt Huffman, Ohio Senate president, was on site to hear Durnell’s plan, which Huffman will present to Governor Mike DeWine. The proposal will next go before the state’s controlling board on Monday, April 15.
Durnell has experience in this kind of disaster relief project—RVW has done the same for communities in Louisiana (Hurricane Katrina 2005) and Florida (Hurricane Ian 2022), and they are currently helping communities in Hawaii and the country of Turkey.
Though FEMA assessed the lake area on Tuesday, March 26, with regard to federal aid, Monday’s presentation focused on the benefits of solving the problem locally. For instance, it would save them having to pay FEMA’s monthly maintenance and inspection fees, they could use volunteers, and RVW could cover setup and pre-delivery inspection fees at a fraction of what FEMA costs.
“I’m going to talk to the governor,” Huffman said. “He’s going to ask FEMA for relief, but that usually takes a long time and is not very productive.”
In Durnell’s experience, FEMA “will say RVs aren’t the way to go, but then they’ll do it.
“They’ll delay and delay and delay and try to run it out to deploy fewer and fewer until people move,” Durnell added. “We don’t want them to move.”
Still, Helen Norris, director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency, contended, “We really do need FEMA’s support just based on the scale of the event.”
Using the situation in Hawaii following the Lahaina fire on Aug. 8, 2023, as a cautionary example, Durnell pointed out the trouble they’re facing.
Especially with regard to finances and timing. In addition to the $500 million they’ve already blown through in Hawaii, they anticipate spending another $765 million over the next 365 days. But if they went with RVs, they would save a minimum of
$600 million by the end of that year.
Also, even though Hawaii has finally requested 400 modular homes from FEMA, they expect those won’t start arriving for at least nine months.
“Let’s not be Hawaii,” Durnell concluded.
Hoping they can count on volunteers, helpful neighbors and donations, Durnell didn’t include items like cinder and flat blocks, PVC pipe and fittings, no-freeze water hoses, water pressure regulators and anchoring equipment. He’s already reached out to other RV companies in the hope of getting everything RV-related donated.
Once the RVs are no longer needed as temporary housing—Durnell said they’re usually deployed for about 18 months—they’ll be repurposed and, quite
possibly, sold. Durnell’s plan offers several benefits for Logan
County:
• Typically, the RV is placed on the homeowner’s land, saving money as they don’t have to purchase a plot or install utilities since they can usually tap into existing water, sewer and electric.
• When affected residents stay on their property, they have more peace of mind and it reduces the chances of theft/looting.
• Production can begin in three to four weeks, making it the quickest and most affordable option for temporary housing.
• It keeps workers in the area. “I don’t know a single business that doesn’t need people,” Durnell said.
• It keeps families in the area. This would save Indian Lake schools from having to replace funding for losing students who have to relocate.
According to Durnell’s report, “Studies show students who survive a natural disaster and are relocated out of their school (and away from their teachers and friends) have very high incidents of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and mental illness compared to those who remain in their community.”
And adults who relocate have a higher rate of divorce, addiction, suicide and mental health issues.
• They also have 40 UFAS units that comply with federal accessibility standards for handicapped individuals available to place right away.
“This is our community,” Durnell stated. “We want to see everyone taken care of. We want to provide as much support to our community as we possibly can.”
The Examiner will follow up on this project after the controlling board’s April 15 meeting.