Federal Recovery Effort Tops $275 Million In Tennessee
Monday, July 19, 2010 | 03:44am
NASHVILLE - Tennessee flood survivors have received nearly $150 million in approved Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster grants, bringing total federal assistance to more than $275 million.
Nearly $150 million has been approved for the Individuals and Households Program (IHP). This amount includes $129 million in home repair and rental assistance and more than $20 million for Other Needs Assistance (ONA), which covers assistance with essential and other disaster-related needs.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved more than $127 million in
low-interest loans for home owners, renters and businesses.
More than $275,000 has been approved through Disaster Unemployment Assistance that is available through the state to help workers whose primary income was lost or interrupted as a direct result of the disaster. The program may cover those who don't normally qualify for unemployment insurance benefits, such as the self-employed and farmers.
“The disaster partnerships that formed during the response in early May continue to be a success as we move forward with recovery,” said James H. Bassham, State Coordinating Officer for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA).
Since the May 4 major disaster declaration, more than 65,000 people have registered with FEMA across 46 counties designated for Individual Assistance.
“It's important to keep in mind that the deadline for applying for help is right around the corner,” added Gracia B. Szczech, FEMA's Federal Coordinating Officer. “Anyone who sustained damage and hasn't applied for help needs to do that before the Aug. 5 deadline.”
Those affected by the storms and flooding can register or get answers to questions by calling
800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 800-462-7585. They also can register online anytime at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov/.
The following is a recap of activities and assistance provided by FEMA and its partners:
To help identify and assist disaster survivors, teams of state and FEMA Community Relations field specialists have visited 24,699 homes, 6,072 businesses, 1,838 faith-based organizations and 449 community-based organizations.
To date, Mitigation's Community Education Outreach teams have spoken with 87,382 people, given specific advice to 37,457 people and distributed 90,260 publications and referred 4,092 individuals to Disaster Recovery Centers.
There were more than 20,687 visits to 66 Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) established by TEMA and FEMA to provide one-on-one help and speed recovery.
More than 460,900 association members, students, employees and customers of non-governmental organizations and companies received disaster recovery information through networks developed by FEMA's Private Sector division.
Completed inspections of 55,452 homes with reported damage. The contracted inspectors confirm damage so FEMA can determine eligibility for housing assistance.
Follow the recovery in Tennessee online at http://twitter.com/tema, http://twitter.com/fema, http://www.facebook.com/TNDisasterInfo, www.youtube.com/fema and http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_e_m_a.
The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA and TEMA do not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.
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.