Mobile Assistance for East Texas Storm Victims

VAN — A Mobile Registration Intake Center (MRIC) has opened in Van to serve homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained damage as a result of the ongoing severe storms and flooding. Specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are there to answer questions and provide information on the types of assistance available to survivors.

Location and dates of operation:

Van Zandt County: Van Memorial Stadium & Sports Complex, 1085 N. Maple St., Van will be open from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily until further notice.

Harris, Hays, and Van Zandt counties can register for FEMA assistance online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or via smartphone or web-enabled device at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585 from 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. daily. Multilingual operators are available. Flood survivors statewide can call and report their damage to give the state and FEMA a better idea of the assistance that is needed in undesignated counties.

Assistance for eligible survivors can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, and for other serious disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses or funeral and burial costs. Low-interest disaster loans from SBA also may be available to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.

Eligible survivors should register with FEMA even if they have insurance. FEMA cannot duplicate insurance payments, but under-insured applicants may receive help after their insurance claims have been settled.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362. For TTY call 800-462-7585. 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. Follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/femaregion6 and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov

The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term 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. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visiting SBA’s website at http://www.sba.gov/disaster

Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800) 877-8339.