NORTH LITTLE ROCK – (RealEstateRama) — A joint federal/state disaster recovery center is open in Jackson County to help those whose homes or businesses were affected by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding Dec. 26, 2015 – Jan. 22, 2016.
Representatives from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and other agencies are at the center to explain disaster assistance programs and help survivors apply for aid.
The center is located at the Newport Fire Department Training Center, 1206 Hwy. 367 N., Newport.
Hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sundays until further notice.
Those seeking disaster assistance should register with FEMA before going to a recovery center. To do so:
- Call 1-800-621-3362 (FEMA). If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585. If you use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362.
- Go to www.disasterassistance.gov.
The toll free lines operate from 7 a.m.to 10 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.
Each disaster recovery center has assistive technologies for people with disabilities. ASL interpreters are available at the DRCs by calling 800-621-3362.
Disaster aid for individuals and families can include money for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property loss and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.
Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to help with residential and business losses not covered by insurance. The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the 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. Applying for these loans is also a way to qualify for other avenues of assistance.
For more information on SBA programs, 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 website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800) 877-8339.
Federal disaster assistance is available to eligible residents of Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Faulkner, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, Little River, Perry, Sebastian and Sevier counties. Residents of those counties may visit any DRC.
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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.
