Purchases made in the 1990s were in response to the record flood in 1993, which created an opportunity to purchase many hard-hit floodplain areas from willing sellers.
The communities in which the work camps are held are often in economically deprived areas, or areas which have been especially hard-hit by natural disasters, including flooding or hurricanes.
While the town was spared from the worst of the storm (category 4 conditions were experienced further north of the town), it and its two barrier islands were still hard-hit.