The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

WHO: The State of Texas, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

WHAT: A joint state/federal Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is open in Orange County to help survivors whose homes or businesses were affected by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that occurred March 7-29.

WHERE: The center is located in the Northway Shopping Center, 3777 N 16th St. Suite 100, Orange, TX 77630

WHEN: The hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and closed on Sundays until further notice.

OTHER: Representatives from the state, FEMA, SBA and other agencies are at the center to explain disaster assistance programs and help survivors apply for aid.

Survivors are encouraged to register for FEMA assistance before visiting a center one of the following ways:

• Go online at DisasterAssistance.govlink.
• Call 800-621-3362 (FEMA) or (TTY) 800-462-7585.

  Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 800-621-3362.

  The toll free lines operate from 7 a.m.

  to 10 p.m.

  seven days a week.

  Multilingual operators are available.

Each recovery center has assistive technologies available for people with disabilities.

To request an American Sign Language interpreter, call 800-621-3362 in advance of visiting a center.

Going to a DRC is not a requirement of registration, but specialists there provide guidance regarding disaster recovery and rental resources, explain written correspondence received from FEMA, inform survivors of the status of their application, make referrals to other organizations and answer questions.

Disaster assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

SBA low-interest disaster loans 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, email disastercustomerservice@sba.govlink, or visit SBA’s website at SBA.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

Federal disaster assistance is available to eligible residents of Erath, Gregg, Harrison, Hood,Jasper, Marion, Newton, Orange and Parker counties. Survivors in those counties may visit any DRC location.