SEMA News Release

Less than five weeks after Missouri received a major disaster declaration for historic flooding and severe storms, the state’s disaster recovery team today reported  that more than $66 million in payments to disaster survivors is helping fuel the state’s recovery effort.

Gov. Eric Greitens’ request for a federal disaster declaration was approved on June 2. Through July 5:

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency has made more than $10.2 million in grant payments for emergency home repairs, rental assistance, the replacement of essential personal property and other eligible expenses to 1,588 disaster survivors.
• The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved approximately $9.1 million in low-interest disaster loans to more than 140 homeowners, renters and businesses.
• The National Flood Insurance Program has made payments totaling just under $47 million in payments to 931 Missouri policyholders. NFIP continues to process more than 350 additional claims.

The updated figures were released during a joint media update call hosted by leaders of Missouri’s state recovery team and FEMA. Both the state and FEMA emphasized the importance of homeowners and renters quickly applying for assistance, since the deadline for FEMA and SBA assistance is Aug. 1.

“Our state recovery team, FEMA and our local partners are all working in close coordination to get the word out that the time to register for assistance and ask questions about the help available is now,” Missouri Disaster Recovery Coordinator Patrick Baker said. “We are pleased with the assistance provided thus far. Our team will continue to work to identify programs through which further assistance may be made available during the long-term recovery effort.”

“It is important for those who have been impacted, to register for assistance,” FEMA Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer Constance Johnson-Cage said. “Don’t eliminate yourself from consideration. Call 800-621-3362 before the Aug. 1 deadline and see if we can help. It only takes about 20 minutes and we may be able to assist in your recovery”

Under the federal disaster declaration, 27 Missouri counties are eligible for Individual Assistance: 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.

FEMA reported that since June 8, it has operated 23 disaster recovery centers across the disaster area. Those recovery centers have logged more than 1,600 visits by survivors for one-on-one counseling on available assistance, flood insurance, mitigation methods and disaster loans from SBA. Currently, DRCs remain open in Carter, Howell, Oregon, Ozark and Stone counties. The DRCs in Carter and Howell counties are scheduled to close at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 8. Check the state’s disaster recovery page at https://recovery.mo.gov/ for details.

SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters. The deadline to apply for a loan from SBA is Aug. 1, 2017. 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. The deadline to file for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is March 2, 2018. Apply online at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela or call 800-659-2955. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

FEMA registration is easy:

• Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. CST. Multilingual registration assistance is available. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Services may call 800-621-3362. Those who use TTY may call 800-462-7585; MO Relay 800-735-2966; CapTel 877-242-2823; Speech to Speech 877-735-7877; VCO 800-735-0135. Multilingual operators will be available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.
• Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov.
• Use the FEMA app for smartphones.

Disaster survivors with unmet needs are encouraged to contact United Way 211. 211 provides confidential referrals and connects disaster survivors and others with help from local organizations that provide essential health and human services assistance. Call 2-1-1 or go to www.211helps.org. 

The State Emergency Management Agency emphasized the importance of local governments, road and other special districts, and nonprofits filing Requests for Public Assistance with FEMA by July 14 to take advantage of federal assistance with infrastructure repairs and emergency response costs. More than 220 counties, local governments, school districts, sewer districts and nonprofit agencies have contacted SEMA to request assistance. This week, FEMA is holding its first meetings with these applicants for public projects. Jurisdictions with questions should contact SEMA at (573) 526-9234. 

The 46 counties included in the federal disaster declaration for Public Assistance are: Barry, Barton, Bollinger, Butler, Camden, Carter, Cedar, Christian, Cole, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell, Iron, Jefferson, Lawrence, Madison, Maries, McDonald, Miller, Morgan, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Perry, Phelps, Pike, Pulaski, Ralls, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Louis, Shannon, Stone, Taney, Texas, Washington, Wayne, Webster and Wright.

Additionally, today, the Missouri Department of Mental Health announced FEMA awarded the department a $500,000 Crisis Counseling Program grant that will fund psychological services to help build resiliency among disaster survivors. This will allow DMH to continue outreach services through six participating Community Mental Health Centers.

Last week, Missouri was approved for up to $8 million by the U.S. Department of Labor for a federal Disaster Workforce Grant, with an initial release of $2.7 million. Disaster Workforce Grant projects create temporary jobs for eligible individuals to assist with clean up, recovery and humanitarian efforts in impacted disaster areas. The grant will be administered locally by workforce development boards.     

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