KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: SFC residents eligible for aid through FEMA

St. Francis County residents affected by April storms and spring flooding may now be eligible for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

According to a press release from FEMA and the St. Francis County Office of Emergency Management, St. Francis County has been added to the statewide list of counties covered under FEMA's Individual Assistance program. Affected individuals and business owners may begin the disaster application process by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362).

According to the press release, applicants registering for aid should be prepared to provide basic information about themselves (name, permanent address, phone number) insurance coverage, and any other information to help substantiate losses. 

Shane Dallas, SFCOEM Coordinator, emphasized that the individual assistance declaration is not just for those impacted by flooding along the L'Anguille and St. Francis rivers.

"When we first started this process, our first declaration was actually for the severe storms and flash flooding that we had last month. At that time we didn't have any problems with either of the rivers, but that changed and then we had the flooding on the St. Francis River and the L'Anguille. What they ended up doing was rolling all of that into one disaster declaration, and this will cover both of those events," said Dallas.

He also stressed that the assistance could help those without insurance or damages that insurance did not cover.

"This declaration is really for those people who either did not have insurance or had damages that didn't get covered by their insurance. We had a couple of pretty bad wind events and had several people who had trees knocked down on their homes or damages from falling limbs. While FEMA won't pay to cut up a tree that fell in your yard on private property it may pay to repair damages if the tree fell on your house or caused damages to your home," said Dallas.

Dallas also said it is important that residents have photos of damages that they can present to FEMA officials even if they have begun to make repairs.

"Pictures are very important to have because it is something that shows the damage that people had even if they've started making repairs. They will make site visits and any information that you have will only help," he said.

Dallas said FEMA officials may be in the area later this week handing out information and brochures, but said that a local site for a Disaster Relief Center has not been established.

"We received the notification about 5:30 Friday afternoon, and I haven't had an opportunity to speak with them yet. They will probably have officials in the area later this week passing out brochures in the affected areas that we know about and then will announce the DRCs later on. They will probably set up in either Madison or Widener similar to the site set up a few years ago," said Dallas.

Applicants will be assigned an applicant number and an appointment for a FEMA inspector to view the affected property may be scheduled. For applicants who have already called FEMA and been assigned an applicant number, applicants should call FEMA and advise them of their applicant number for follow-up information.

Assistance for affected individuals and businesses can include:

• Assistance with temporary housing costs.

• Low-interest loans to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance. Also loans for farmers, ranchers and aquaculture operators to cover production and property losses.

• Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary and functional.

• Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other programs.

Friday's announcement is the second federal disaster declaration for St. Francis County. Earlier this month the county qualified for public assistance which will reimburse the county and area municipalities for damages suffered during the storms and flooding.

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