Temporary Housing on Your Lot in Hattiesburg After Hurricane Isaias

This page is for homeowners in Hattiesburg, Petal, unincorporated Forrest County, and Lamar County, including Purvis and Sumrall, if Hurricane Isaias left your home unlivable. Mississippi has no statewide rule on living in a travel trailer on your own lot while you rebuild. Hattiesburg and Petal codes restrict it, Lamar County's zoning has a disaster rule for a manufactured home, and we did not find posted rules for Forrest County, Purvis, or Sumrall, so the first step is a call to the office for your address. 1st Choice Living has placed furnished travel trailers on homeowners' own property, nationwide, since 2004, and we bill the carrier directly under ALE where the claim covers it.

Hurricane Isaias and the Hattiesburg area

Storm facts as of October 9, 2026, 8:30 p.m. CDT, from official sources:

• The storm. In its 4 p.m. CDT advisory on October 9, 2026, the National Hurricane Center said Isaias was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph, and that it was forecast to make landfall along the coast of the western Florida Panhandle that evening and then move across Alabama. Source
• Warnings. That advisory had a hurricane warning in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay and Gulf County line in Florida, and said storm surge could reach 6 to 9 feet above ground from the Alabama and Florida border to Grayton Beach, Florida. Source
• Mississippi. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said on October 9, 2026, that parts of Jackson County were under a hurricane warning and that shelters and safe rooms were open in George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Pearl River counties. We did not find a statewide emergency order on an official Mississippi page as of this update. Source

In the same 4 p.m. CDT advisory, the National Hurricane Center said Isaias was expected to make landfall along the coast of the western Florida Panhandle that evening, and that the center was then expected to move across Alabama and into the Tennessee Valley, with weakening expected after landfall.

The advisory said tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 205 miles from the center, had a tropical storm warning from the Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish line in Louisiana to west of Ocean Springs, and forecast 2 to 5 inches of rain across much of the Southeast outside the heaviest band, with flash, urban, and river flooding possible across the region.

Away from the Gulf, the risk named in the advisory is wind, rain, and tornadoes rather than storm surge. If a tree comes through the roof or water gets in, a home can become unlivable far from the coast, and Additional Living Expenses coverage works the same way it does on the coast.

State of emergency. We did not find a Mississippi statewide emergency order for Isaias on the Governor's site or in MEMA's Isaias releases, or a county or city declaration for this area on an official page, as of October 9, 2026. Check with the county emergency management agency for local orders.

Return to your property only when local officials say it is safe. Stay out of flood water and keep clear of downed lines. For roads, shelters, and re-entry, follow the Forrest County Emergency Management (listed on MEMA's county contacts page) (601-544-5911), or the Lamar County Emergency Management (601-794-5378). For the current forecast, go to the National Hurricane Center.

Local rules on living in an RV on your lot

Start with where your address sits. Part of Hattiesburg lies in Lamar County, and city rules apply there too. Outside city limits, Forrest County's Planning Department and Lamar County's Planning Department are the county offices; Lamar County's zoning covers only the zoned parts of the unincorporated county, shown on the county zoning map.

Neither Hattiesburg nor Petal has a current storm or tornado provision for living in an RV. Petal's zoning lets a temporary building used with construction work stay up to 12 months after a natural disaster while repairs are made, but it does not mention RVs or living in one, and Petal's city code allows a visiting guest's trailer for no more than 72 hours a month.

Lamar County's zoning treats travel trailers and RVs as vehicles, not dwellings. In the R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts, the Board of Supervisors may approve, as a conditional use, a manufactured or mobile home as a temporary dwelling while a site-built home destroyed by fire, tornado, or other disaster is rebuilt or repaired. That rule does not name RVs, so ask the Planning Department.

Septic: the Mississippi State Department of Health's onsite wastewater regulations cover RV campgrounds and lots with more than two homes or RVs on one tract, but we did not find a rule written for hooking a single RV to a home's septic system during repairs. If the home is on septic, ask the county health department first.

Rules here were read on official city and county pages on October 9, 2026 and can change after a storm. The side-by-side table for every Isaias area is on Hurricane Isaias RV rules by county.

How the trailer is billed: Additional Living Expenses

Additional Living Expenses, or ALE, sometimes called loss of use, pays for somewhere to live while the house is not livable. Ask your carrier whether your policy includes it and what the limit is. The Mississippi Insurance Department explains that additional living expenses coverage will pay for you to move somewhere temporarily when you cannot live in your home because of damage your policy covers, and it advises you to ask your insurance company early whether you have that coverage.

• Local rules for your address checked before delivery.
• A furnished travel trailer that sleeps 2 to 10, with a kitchen, a bathroom, real beds, and heat and air, delivered, leveled, and set up on your property.
• Utilities connected by licensed, insured contractors from our preferred vendor network, planned around what is actually working at the property.
• Site conditions documented at setup and again at takedown.
• Direct billing to your carrier under ALE where the claim covers it, tracked against your ALE limit. On a covered claim that is $0 out of pocket for your family.
• One named contact from the first call to the day the unit leaves.

Flood is different. National Flood Insurance Program policies do not provide additional living expense coverage. If your home also had damage your homeowners policy covers, such as wind, ask your adjuster how ALE applies. This is general information, not legal or coverage advice. Your policy and your adjuster decide what is covered.

Already working with a temporary housing company?

We work with any temporary housing company. If one is handling your housing, ask them to place you with 1st Choice Living for a trailer on your own lot in Hattiesburg. They send us the placement, we deliver, set up, and service the trailer, and the billing runs through them or straight to your carrier, whichever way their program works.

What we need to start

• The property address in Hattiesburg and whether it is inside city limits.
• How many people are in the household.
• Your claim number and your adjuster’s name and contact.
• Your ALE limit, if your adjuster has told you.

From there we check the local rules for that address, confirm the lot can take a unit, and plan setup around what is safe and working at the property. If a trailer on your lot is not the right fit, we will tell you. Adjusters and housing companies can send a placement through for adjusters and carriers.

More Hurricane Isaias pages

• Temporary housing after Hurricane Isaias: storm facts, safety, and how ALE works for a trailer on your lot.
• Hurricane Isaias RV rules by county: every area in one table.
• Our Mississippi temporary housing page.
• Nearby: Lucedale (George County), MS
• Nearby: Picayune (Pearl River County), MS
• Nearby: Gulfport and Biloxi (Harrison County), MS
• Travel trailers for crews and families after Hurricane Isaias from Temporary RV Living.
• Drone documentation after Hurricane Isaias from LossMap, to record roof and property damage before cleanup.

Frequently asked questions