Disaster Recovery Centers Open in Merryville, Beauregard Parish; Franklinton, Washington Parish; and Vinton, Calcasieu Parish, for Louisiana Survivors
BATON ROUGE, La – (RealEstateRama) — Disaster recovery centers will open Saturday, April 2, in Merryville, Beauregard Parish; Franklinton, Washington Parish; and Vinton, Calcasieu Parish, to help Louisiana flood survivors. The centers are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays until further notice.
The disaster recovery centers are located at the following addresses:
Merryville Community Center
3024 S. Pine St.
Merryville, La.
Eastgate Shopping Center
1926 Washington St., Suite 1924
Franklinton, La.
American Legion #208
5461 Joe Courville Road
Vinton, La.
More centers are planned to open in other parishes. Survivors may locate centers online at fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers or by calling 800-621-3362.
Representatives from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Small Business Administration, volunteer groups and other agencies are at the center to answer questions about disaster assistance and low-interest disaster loans for homeowners, renters and businesses. They can also help survivors apply for federal disaster assistance.
It is not necessary to visit a center to register for and receive federal disaster assistance. If possible, survivors should register with FEMA before visiting a recovery center.
To register, go online to DisasterAssistance.gov or call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362. Help is available in most languages and phone lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.
Disaster survivors who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY may call 800-462-7585 to register. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Service or require accommodations while visiting a center may call 800-621-3362. All disaster recovery centers are accessible and equipped with tools to accommodate disaster survivors who need disability-related communication aids. Each disaster recovery center has assistive technologies for people with disabilities. To arrange to have an ASL interpreter at the DRC when you visit, call 225-382-1739.
Low-interest disaster loans from the SBA are available for businesses of all sizes including landlords, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters. Disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries.
For more information, applicants may contact the SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing DisasterCustomerService (at) sba (dot) gov or visiting the SBA’s website at sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.
For information call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 or go online to www.DisasterAssistance.gov orwww.fema.gov/disaster/4263.
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We urge everyone to continue to use caution in areas where floodwaters remain. Monitor DOTD’s www.511la.org website for updated road closure information. Look for advisories from your local authorities and emergency managers. You can find the latest information on the state’s response at www.emergency.la.gov. GOHSEP also provides information on Facebook and Twitter. You can receive emergency alerts on most smartphones and tablets by downloading the new Alert FM App. It is free for basic service. You can also download the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Guide and find other information at www.getagameplan.org.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/femaregion6 and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice (at) sba (dot) gov, or visiting SBA’s Web site atwww.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800)877-8339.
