Strong Flood Recovery Reported

JEFFERSON CITY – 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 lowinterest 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, including Carter, Reynolds, Ripley and Shannon. 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. FEMA registration is easy. Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621- 3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. CST, or go online to DisasterAssistance. gov. 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. Among the 46 counties included in the federal disaster declaration for Public Assistance are: Carter, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon and Wayne. Additionally, 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. Missouri has been 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 disaster updates from the State of Missouri, visit Missouri’s recovery website at Recovery.mo.gov. You can also follow @MoPublicSafety on Twitter, and www.facebook. com/MoPublicSafety/ on Facebook.