In the next two weeks, FEMA officials will begin regularly auctioning trailers that have been returned to the agency’s 172-acre staging site in Purvis.

The auctions, held by the federal General Service Administration, will be conducted online. Similar trailers in Florida have been auctioned for as much as $14,700 and as little as $1,500. The funds go back into FEMA’s coffers, said public information officer Crystal Payton, but said she wasn’t sure if funds go into the agency’s regular budget or disaster relief fund.

There are currently more than 2,700 trailers at the site, but not all will be sold. Most will be refurbished, repaired and stored for future use, officials say.

Only trailers deemed too expensive to repair will be auctioned as-is, said Mike Miller, FEMA’s supervisor for emergency housing units-east.

Posted: 07|29|06 at 3:11 pm. Filed under: US News.