In the event of a major earthquake (magnitude 7.6), the American Red Cross, Disaster Services, estimates that over 725,000 Missourians will require temporary housing, with over 465,000 of these individuals located in the metropolitan St. Louis area.
An estimated 154,700 of the victims will initially seek housing in public shelters (schools, churches, tents, etc.) run by volunteer organizations. However, these facilities generally operate for a period of only 60 to 90 days. After this time, individuals who are unable to return to their homes due to significant damage may require long-term temporary housing. It is critical to the well-being of these victims that this housing be quickly identified so that they can begin rebuilding their lives.
The local emergency management agency should develop a contingency plan for providing housing prior to the disaster, so that adequate housing can be constructed rapidly when needed.
The first step in developing a long-term temporary housing plan is to establish a committee consisting of local emergency management personnel and planning and zoning representatives, as well as individuals from the engineering and construction communities.
This committee should be responsible for evaluating existing rentals in the area to identify existing facilities which may survive and be habitable following a major earthquake Identifying property which could be utilized to construct long-term temporary housing, taking into consideration road access and the availability of utilities evaluating a variety of prefabricated housing products on the market to identify those which would be best suited for use in the affected areas and developing a plan for the closure and dismantling of long-term housing areas to ensure that this "temporary" housing does not become "permanent".