Hurricane Katrina Recovery Update: Week 38 

To date, FEMA has obligated more than $7.9 billion in federal funding to aid Mississippians through various Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, including $3.1 billion in mission assignments. Mission assignments are work orders FEMA issues to other federal agencies requesting that they complete specific tasks during response and recovery, such as emergency medical assistance and debris removal.

Small business owners hit by Hurricane Katrina have until May 29 to apply for economic injury disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA is encouraging everyone ready to build and whose loan application has been approved to call its Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or email them at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov to arrange for a loan closing. To date, the SBA's Disaster Assistance Program has approved more than $2.4 billion in low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and business owners throughout Mississippi.

Evacuation readiness is the focus for the seventh week of Mississippi's "Stay Alert. Stay Alive." hurricane awareness campaign. With the hurricane season beginning June 1, Mississippians need to develop their own family disaster and evacuation plan. Officials point out the majority of hurricane-related deaths comes from inland flooding, including those who drown in or while attempting to leave their vehicles. Officials say residents should evacuate immediately when so advised, keep aware of road conditions and move to a safe area before access is cut off by flood waters. And, they should have flood insurance. To see evacuation routes for your area, visit the Mississippi Department of Transportation's website at www.GoMDOT.com.

Today, May 26, is the last day for residents without personal transportation in case of an evacuation to register with MEMA's Evacuation Transportation Survey phone line. Residents in George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Stone and Pearl River counties should call 1-866-647-0966 or (TTY) 1-228-385-5769 for the speech- or hearing-impaired. The toll-free numbers are open until 6 p.m. tonight.

More than $1.21 billion in assistance has been disbursed to more than 273,000 Mississippi households that have registered through FEMA's Individuals and Households Program (IHP). Housing Assistance, used to pay for rent, repair or housing construction, accounts for more than $835 million. Other Needs Assistance (ONA), used for uninsured or under-insured disaster-related necessary expenses, is the second largest category at $360 million. ONA is a cost-share program which is 75 percent federally funded, 25 percent state funded.

More than 102,000 people are housed temporarily in more than 38,000 FEMA-provided travel trailers and mobile homes, including the more than 2,800 units compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Public Assistance program has obligated more than $1 billion for emergency work and infrastructure repair. This includes $559 million for debris removal, $245 million for emergency protective measures, $138 million to repair public facilities, $153 million to restore public utilities, $36 million to restore public recreational facilities such as state parks, $23 million to repair roads and bridges and $949,000 to repair water control devices such as reservoirs and irrigation channels.

To date, more than 41 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from public and private property. Debris operations for the entire state of Mississippi are 96.3 percent complete. 

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid more than $2.1 billion in flood insurance claims to policyholders in Mississippi. The NFIP plays a critical role in encouraging communities to adopt, implement and enforce broader floodplain-management regulations and programs.

Mississippians who applied for disaster assistance can update their contact or personal information or inquire about the status of their application two easy ways: by calling the toll-free FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 or accessing the FEMA Web site at www.fema.gov.