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FEMA opens local recovery center

  • Published
  • By Burling County Emergency Management Office
HAINESPOR, N.J. --  The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a disaster recovery center May 14 at the Hainesport Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 firehouse at 106 Broad Street to assist individuals, households and businesses affected by the mid-March storms and flooding.

"We identified more than 300 homes that were impacted by the storms," said Kevin Tuno, Burlington County Emergency Management coordinator.

The DRC will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday until further notice. The center will be closed Sundays.

The Hainesport center is one of three open in New Jersey. Others will open in Ocean and Cumberland counties, making a total of 12 DRCs operating in flood-stricken, federally-declared New Jersey counties.

Each DRC is staffed with FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration and state agency disaster recovery specialists who are prepared to help flood survivors through the recovery process.

Individual assistance may include grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs. Low- interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration also will be available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance.

At the disaster recovery center, visitors can:
· receive information about different types of state and federal disaster assistance.
· get help completing low-interest loan applications from the U.S. Small Business Administration for homeowners, renters and business owners.
· inquire about the status of applications for federal assistance.
· receive referrals to voluntary organizations for help with immediate unmet needs.
· learn cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce the impact of future disaster losses.

Survivors are encouraged to register with FEMA between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m. seven days a week by calling toll-free at 1 (800) 621-FEMA or 1 (800) 462-7585 for people with speech and hearing disabilities. Multi-lingual operators are available to answer calls during this time. Residents may also register online anytime at www.disasterassistance.gov.

To speed assistance, individuals should be ready to provide current phone number, address at the time of the disaster as well as current address, social security number, list of damages suffered and insurance information.