Temporary Housing on Your Lot in New Orleans After Hurricane Isaias

This page is for homeowners in the City of New Orleans, unincorporated Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard Parish, and Plaquemines Parish, if Hurricane Isaias left your home unlivable. We did not find a statewide Louisiana rule on living in a travel trailer on your own lot while you rebuild, and the four answers here are very different: Plaquemines has a written rule for a trailer after a hurricane, Jefferson's Council can turn on a waiver, and New Orleans and St. Bernard bar living in an RV outside a park. 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 New Orleans area

Storm facts as of October 9, 2026, 10 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

For Louisiana, that advisory had a tropical storm warning in effect from the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish line to west of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and a storm surge warning from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River in Florida. It said water could reach 3 to 5 feet above ground somewhere between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Dauphin Island, Alabama, if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide. The advisory does not list individual parishes.

These pages are written for damage that may happen. If wind, rain, or surge leaves your home unlivable, Additional Living Expenses coverage may pay for somewhere to live while it is repaired. In Louisiana, wind and flood are usually insured separately, so ask your adjuster early which damage your homeowners policy covers.

State of emergency. We did not find a Hurricane Isaias emergency proclamation by Governor Jeff Landry on the Governor's newsroom or the GOHSEP Isaias page as of October 9, 2026, and we did not find a parish declaration for Isaias on the official parish pages for this area. Check with your parish emergency preparedness office 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 New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (NOLA Ready), the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management (504-349-5360), the St. Bernard Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (504-278-4268), or the Plaquemines Parish Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (504-934-6460). For the current forecast, go to the National Hurricane Center.

Local rules on living in an RV on your lot

Start with which side of the line your address is on. The City of New Orleans and all of Orleans Parish follow the city's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. This page covers unincorporated Jefferson Parish; Kenner, Gretna, Harahan, Westwego, Grand Isle, and Jean Lafitte have their own codes, so call the city there. St. Bernard and Plaquemines are handled by their parish governments.

New Orleans: the zoning ordinance's list of permitted temporary uses has no storm or disaster housing category. The only trailers on it are contractor trailers with a valid building permit, for construction use. The post-Katrina trailer allowances were temporary ordinances and are not in the current code.

Jefferson Parish: the waiver in section 9-11 only exists once the Parish Council adopts a resolution after a declared disaster or emergency, and the resolution can require that the home be under repair with a building permit and set an end date. We did not find an Isaias resolution as of October 9. Jefferson Parish Emergency Management's operations center is at 504-349-5360.

Plaquemines Parish: the temporary residential trailer is a conditional use in the single-family districts, so it needs Parish Council approval through the conditional use process before it is placed. The trailer must be occupied by the owner and removed within seven days after the work is finished or after six months, and the Council can extend it once by six months.

A Louisiana law, R.S. 29:726, has GOHSEP run an expedited temporary housing program after a presidential major disaster or emergency declaration, for parishes that ask for it and have certified that they will waive land use rules for an RV or other temporary housing next to the damaged home. It applies only after a presidential declaration, and parishes and cities opt in or out each year. We did not find a presidential declaration for Isaias in Louisiana as of October 9.

Sewer: New Orleans' zoning bars hooking an RV on a residential lot to public utilities at all. Statewide, the Louisiana plumbing code requires a vented trailer trap in the building sewer just downstream of a travel trailer's drain outlet wherever one is connected. We did not find a parish rule written for RV sewer or septic hookups on a residential lot.

Rules here were read on official city and parish 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 Louisiana Department of Insurance explains that most homeowners policies will pay additional living expenses if you cannot stay in your home because of damage from a covered disaster, that ALE pays the costs beyond your normal expenses but will not make your mortgage payment, and that you need to keep all receipts. Its consumer line is 1-800-259-5300.

• 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 New Orleans. 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 New Orleans 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 Louisiana temporary housing page.
• Nearby: Northshore (St. Tammany Parish and Bogalusa), LA
• Nearby: Hancock County, MS
• Nearby: Picayune (Pearl River 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