Katrina cottage dwellers under pressure to buy or leave - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

Katrina cottage dwellers under pressure to buy or leave

GULF COAST, MS (WLBT) - Hundreds of people who have been living in Mississippi-owned cottages since Hurricane Katrina are now under pressure to buy the homes or leave.

The BP oil spill has made things a lot worse for many of the eight-hundred or so families living in the roughly 400-square-foot cottages.

Some of the dwellers have lost their jobs because of the spill or haven't been able to get hired because of the economic fallout from the disaster.

State officials had hoped to end the program by August 29th, the fifth anniversary of the storm, but they are now saying the eviction process will take several more months.

The cottage dwellers live in the structures for free paying utilities and rent only for the lots.

Residents who own the land pay no rent.

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