As we get ready to welcome summer with arms wide open on Tuesday, June 20th at 11:24 p.m. Central, the cleanup from our recent deadly springtime severe weather throughout the Springfield, Missouri County Warning Area continues. A total of 27 counties are eligible for financial assistance from The Federal Emergency Management Agency. Officials are urging residents of these 27 Missouri counties designated in the federal major disaster declaration to register with the agency without delay.
Registration is easy:
- Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov.
- Use the FEMA app for smartphones.
- Call 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. CST. Multilingual registration assistance is available. People who use 711 or Video Relay Services may call 800-621-3362. Those who use TTY may call 800-462-7585.
Eligible homeowners and renters may be able to receive money for disaster expenses not covered by insurance to help pay for basic home repairs, temporary rental assistance and other needs such as replacing personal property. FEMA Individual Assistance is grant money that does not have to be repaid.
FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Michael Parker says not to wait for a Disaster Recovery Center to open in your area. He says folks should register now and start the process as soon as possible.
Filing an insurance claim does not start the FEMA registration process. Neither does registering with the American Red Cross or other agencies. To be considered for FEMA grant assistance, applicants must register directly with FEMA. Even if they have insurance coverage, FEMA might be able to assist with disaster expenses that aren’t covered by insurance.
The 27 counties affected by the April 28th through May 11th flooding that have been designated for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program are: Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell, Jasper, Jefferson, Madison, Maries, McDonald, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, St. Louis, Stone, Taney, and Texas.
Missourians who have critical unmet needs are encouraged to call United Way 2-1-1, which can provide access to other assistance provided by voluntary agencies, faith-based organizations and state agencies. Those who have already called 2-1-1 for help with disaster recovery needs still need to register separately with FEMA.
After registering with FEMA, all businesses and most residents will be referred to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA provides federal low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters impacted by this disaster. SBA disaster loans are to help pay for disaster repair or replacement costs not fully covered by insurance or other sources. In addition, for small businesses and most nonprofit organizations SBA disaster loans can help meet disaster-caused working capital needs. There is no cost or obligation to apply to SBA.
Homeowners and renters should apply to SBA, even if they are not sure if they will need or want a loan. If SBA cannot approve their application, in most cases SBA refers them to FEMA’s Other Needs Assistance (ONA) program for possible additional assistance
SBA representatives are at all of the Disaster Recovery Centers to help each applicant apply. Applicants may also apply to online at https://disasterloan.sba.