SEMA News Release

JOINT SEMA/FEMA NEWS RELEASE

A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center opens Tuesday, June 13, in Howell County, in the city of West Plains. Disaster recovery centers offer in-person support to individuals and businesses in any of the 27 counties included in the Missouri federal disaster declaration for flooding and severe storms that occurred between April 28 and May 11, 2017.

Recovery specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will be at the center to discuss assistance and to help anyone who needs information or assistance filing an application. The new center is at this location:

Howell County DRC
West Plains Civic Center
110 Saint Louis St.
West Plains, MO 65775

The center will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

Homeowners, renters and business-owners are encouraged to register with FEMA before visiting a disaster recovery center. Register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling toll-free 800- 621-3362 (FEMA) from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual registration assistance is available. Survivors may also register using the FEMA app for smartphones.

If you have not registered before visiting a recovery center, please have the following information available when you arrive:

• Social Security number
• Address of the location where the damage occurred (pre-disaster address)
• Current mailing address
• Current telephone number
• Insurance information
• Total household annual income
• Routing and account number for your checking or savings account (this allows FEMA to directly transfer disaster assistance funds into your bank account).
• A description of your disaster-caused damage and losses

FEMA disaster recovery centers are already operating in Carter, Franklin and Jefferson counties. In the coming days, FEMA will be opening additional disaster recovery centers in other communities included in the federal disaster declaration.

Disaster survivors may visit any of the centers for assistance. Locations of recovery centers may be found online at www.fema.gov/DRC and at https://recovery.mo.gov/.

FEMA provides grants to qualified individuals for rental assistance, home repairs, or other serious disaster-related losses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters.

SBA also offers low-interest working capital loans (called Economic Injury Disaster Loans) to small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations having difficulty meeting obligations as a result of the disaster.

For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at SBA.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

SEMA and FEMA are committed to ensuring services and assistance are available for people with disabilities. When you register, let FEMA staff know that you have a need or a reasonable accommodation request. People who use 711 or Video Relay Services may call 800-621-3362. Those who use TTY may call 800-462-7585.

The federal disaster declaration covers eligible losses caused by flooding and severe storms between April 28 and May 11, 2017 in these counties: Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell, Jasper, Jefferson, Madison, Maries, McDonald, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, St. Louis, Stone, Taney, and Texas.

For more information, call 573-751-5432 or e-mail mike.oconnell@dps.mo.gov