HOUSTON -- Local 2 Investigates a government mistake causing more heartache for victims of Hurricane Ike.

Thousands of people waited months for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide them with a temporary place to live while they rebuild their own homes. Yet, Local 2 discovered several people in Sabine Pass were told they have to move out of these temporary homes before the start of hurricane season, even though repairs on their own homes are not complete.

The footprints of Hurricane Ike are still clear on many neighborhood streets in Sabine Pass -- homes, businesses and lives washed away by the storm. However, in the shadows of destruction, you also see and hear a symphony of rebuilding.

"There's a magical place that Sabine is," said Elizabeth Henderson. "It's a family community."

Henderson and her husband, Calvin, lost everything when Ike roared ashore. Like many other victims, the Hendersons waited months for FEMA to decide whether it would give them a temporary home.

"It was about three months of just back and forth, 'Yes you are, no you're not, yes you are, no you're not,'" said Henderson.

In January, FEMA delivered a temporary home and set it up on the Hendersons' property. For the couple, it was a cool, dry place to live while they worked diligently to build their new home. Before the temporary home arrived, the couple lived in a 220-square foot shack they built from the remnants of an old bar and a destroyed Baptist Church.

"It was a blessing when FEMA brought the trailer and allowed us to move in," said Henderson.

Henderson also said the temporary home came with a promise from FEMA.

"As long as we showed continued progress on our house, we would not be forced out," said Henderson.

The couple said FEMA is now breaking that promise.

"They said, 'Oh well, they shouldn't have been placed here in the first place, so it doesn't matter. We're going to take them back,'" said Henderson.

Even though the couple's home is not nearly finished, FEMA told the Hendersons they have to move out of their temporary home by the end of next week.

"We could scream, fuss, make a hassle about it," said Henderson. "It didn't matter. They're pulling the trailers out, regardless."

The Henderson's are not the only ones in Sabine Pass being told their temporary FEMA home has to be moved.

"They promised me one thing, but they're trying to do another," said Dana Lester. "They promised me I could stay there until this house was built, but it don't look like it's going to happen that way."

FEMA officials told Local 2 Investigates the agency accidentally violated its own rules when it set up the temporary homes and that is why the homes now have to be moved.

The Hendersons, Lester and two other families live in what's called "Flood Zone Victor." This means the area has the highest chance of flooding and being affected by storm surge.

FEMA officials told Local 2 "human error" allowed the temporary homes to be "inadvertently set up" in such a flood-prone area -- something the families were never told until the end of last month when FEMA said it had to move these trailers before the start of hurricane season.

"It hurts," said Henderson. "It's a breach of contract."

FEMA offered to move the families to other temporary homes about 40 miles away in Bridge City.

The Hendersons said that is too far because they are building their home with their own money and cannot take a chance of leaving all the building materials unattended.

"We can't afford to have my husband's tools walk off," said Henderson. "All of our building materials that we've purchased with our own money. It's not a loan. No one else is doing the construction. We, with our own hands, are constructing our home. This is home, this is where the heart is."

Since Local 2 started making inquiries and Houston Congressman Ted Poe's office got involved, FEMA officials found another place in Sabine Pass to set up those temporary homes.

However, the Hendersons say they are still too afraid to leave all their tools and building materials unattended, even for short periods of time, so they're going to move back into the small shack they built.