Katrina cottages are small houses designed and marketed in the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (August 2005). They were designed as a response to the inadequacies of the trailers issued to flood victims by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The homes are designed to attempt to fulfill the needs of their occupants in a more permanent and weather-resistant manner, while addressing the challenges of building and protecting a home in the Gulf Coast region. Some of the homes are elevated, on stilts, particularly in southern Louisiana and Mississippi, where much of the land currently used is near sea level, protected by levees, or prone to flooding by nearby rivers or coastal storm surges or high tides.