07:43 AM CDT on Sunday, October 2, 2005

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE -- State and federal officials expect the first of Louisiana's trailer park communities for hurricane victims to be ready for families by Monday.

The complex of 580 small travel trailers will be set up in Baker, just north of Baton Rouge.

FEMA says the state will decide who should be moved to the trailers, which can hold up to five people. The Department of Social Services has said the first priority will be shelter residents. Nearly 48,000 people are living in 345 shelters around the state.

Meanwhile, FEMA has been signing contracts with hotels in New Orleans to provide up to 10,000 rooms, many of which would probably house workers needed to help rebuild the city.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)