Residents and housing advocates on Monday ripped into a city plan to get rid of federally issued trailers, citing confusion and a lack of affordable, alternate housing nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina.

City officials say they will enforce the plan, though some trailers may remain after the August deadline on a case-by-case basis.

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Mayor Ray Nagin has said he wants all trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency gone by Aug. 29, Katrina's third anniversary. He has cited the potential danger of the chemical formaldehyde in trailers, as well as fears over vulnerability of the trailers to hurricane-force winds.

As of Friday, nearly 4,640 FEMA trailers remained in the city, most in front of hurricane-damaged homes. That compares with 9,545 last November, when FEMA began pushing to close the trailer parks it managed. FEMA said all trailer parks are now closed.

City officials say they are going trailer-to-trailer to listen to residents' needs and talk about the plan to begin enforcement July 1. At that time, people still in trailers could face a citation and administrative hearing if they haven't received an extension.

A handful of housing advocates and residents told council members Monday during a committee meeting that they shouldn't force deadlines on hurricane victims struggling with high rents and limited social services.

Laura Tuggle, a lawyer with New Orleans Legal Assistance, which works with the city's poor, said she would be "terrified" if she had to abandon a trailer in front of a partly rebuilt home. Thieves could harvest copper pipes or other materials, she said.

Steve Donahue, a resident who is wheelchair-bound, said he's still waiting on aid to help repair his hurricane-damaged house.

"I live in a trailer. I want my trailer," he said. "It's better than the front seat of my Suburban."

Still, officials say residents have options and won't be thrown out of their trailers with nowhere else to go. City zoning administrator Ed Horan said 250 of 254 extension requests made as of Friday had been granted.

Plus, FEMA may pay up to 120 percent of fair market rent for alternate housing, spokeswoman Gail Tate said.

"Most of this is, make sure that people have a plan, that they're working on their house and that they're getting toward the goal of moving back into their house," Horan said. "We certainly don't want to remove the trailer if they have nowhere else to go."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)