Tallahatchie County residents and business owners are eligible to apply for federal assistance for losses due to severe storms and flooding that occurred March 9-29.
At the request of Gov. Phil Bryant, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday amended a recent disaster declaration to add Tallahatchie to a list of 16 other Mississippi counties designated for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program.
“The addition of Tallahatchie County now makes 17 areas of the state that can receive the much needed assistance to recover from the historic rainfall and flooding we endured,” said Bryant. “It is essential that those Mississippians register with FEMA and also let us know if they have additional unmet needs.”
Anyone who sustained disaster-related losses can register for assistance by calling FEMA’s helpline at 1-800-621-3362.
Those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired can call 1-800-462-7585.
Anyone who uses 711 or Video Relay Services can call 1-800-621-3362 to register.
The toll-free lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, and multilingual operators are available.
To register for disaster assistance online, visit www.disasterassistance.gov.
FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program can help eligible applicants by providing grants for a variety of claims, including the following:
• Temporary housing assistance
• Uninsured or underinsured personal property losses
• Medical, dental and funeral expenses caused by the disaster
• Other disaster-related expenses or serious needs
Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may also be available to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance.
Tallahatchie County residents whose property was damaged by the March storms and flooding are encouraged to register with FEMA even if they have insurance, stressed FEMA’s Victor Inge.
“Everybody in the county who was impacted, even if they didn’t have water come into their house, we need them to register,” he told The Sun-Sentinel Monday.
Within 48 hours after registration, Inge said FEMA will contact the applicant and make an appointment for a site visit, at which time an inspector will come out to the property and assess the claim.
Once a claim is approved, Inge said federal assistance, often in the form of a direct deposit payment or a check, will be forthcoming “within a matter of days.”
As of Sunday, 3,539 Mississippians in the 17 designated counties had registered with FEMA and claims totaling $5.928 million had been approved, according to information provided by Inge. Of that amount, $5.842 million had already been disbursed to the applicants.
“We want to try and get people the help they need, and the first step in that process is to get people to contact us and register,” Inge added.
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Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Director Thad Roberts said Tuesday that in some cases, FEMA representatives in the field are being proactive.
“They’ve got some teams going door-to-door in the hardest hit areas and they’re registering people right on the spot,” he noted.
Roberts said FEMA agents began that legwork locally at about 3 p.m. Monday and had registered 65 Tallahatchians as of early Tuesday morning.
Because the disaster declaration covers storm damage as well as flood damage, Roberts reminded county residents that anyone who suffered “wind or rain damage in the home through the roof can also apply for the federal assistance.”
Three disaster recovery centers remain open in the state, with the nearest located in Quitman County at the Marks Fire Department, 108 West Main St., Marks. Anyone affected by the March storms or flooding can visit the center, Roberts said.
Some people who are rejected for disaster aid by FEMA are referred to the SBA, and Roberts said those individuals should follow through with the SBA application process.
Roberts said if they are also denied by SBA, those persons can return to FEMA, which may then provide other assistance options.
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An SBA press release on Tuesday revealed the following information:
• Through the SBA, businesses and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business needs.
• For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations, the SBA also offers economic injury disaster loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. This assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.
• SBA disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed personal property.
• SBA interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 2.625 percent for nonprofit organizations and 1.813 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.
• As of the close of business on Monday, April 18, SBA had approved $2.590 million in home and business loans in disaster declared counties in the state of Mississippi.
• To apply for SBA disaster assistance online using an electronic loan application, visit https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
• The deadline to apply for SBA physical property damage assistance is May 24, 2016. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Dec. 27, 2016.
• For more information about SBA’s loan application process, call the SBA Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
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Various press releases from FEMA this week offered the following information:
• Registering with FEMA is required for federal aid, even if someone has registered with another disaster-relief organization.
• Only one person per household is eligible to register.
• Applicants must use the name that appears on their Social Security cards when registering with FEMA.
• Applicants will be asked for their Social Security number, address of the damaged home or apartment, description of the damage, information about any insurance coverage, a current contact telephone number, an address where they can receive mail and bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds.
• Federal disaster aid does not affect other government benefits, such as Social Security and Medicaid, and is not considered taxable income. Therefore, recipients of federal disaster aid will not have to pay additional taxes or give up income-based benefit programs.
• Eligibility for FEMA assistance is not dependent on income.
• The amount of FEMA disaster assistance an applicant receives is based on the amount of eligible loss and damage incurred as a direct result of the recent storms and flooding and the amount of their insurance settlement, if any.
• In addition to Tallahatchie, the counties of Bolivar, Clarke, Coahoma, Forrest, George, Greene, Jones, Marion, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Quitman, Sunflower, Tunica, Washington and Wayne have been designated for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program.
Prolonged heavy rains that dumped up to a foot of water on Tallahatchie County in March caused significant flooding, like this section of Hopson Street in Tutwiler, which had to be closed due to overflow from Hopson Bayou. (File photo by Clay McFerrin)
