Hurricane Katrina Recovery Update: Week 39 

To date, FEMA has obligated more than $8.2 billion in federal funding to aid Mississippians through various Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, including more than $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.

To date, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Disaster Assistance Program has approved more than $2.4 billion in low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and business owners throughout Mississippi. The SBA continues to encourage 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.

"Are You Ready?" is the burning question for the final week of Mississippi's "Stay Alert. Stay Alive." hurricane preparedness campaign. As of June 1, we are officially in the 2006 hurricane season. To be ready to face it, Mississippians need to have their own family disaster and evacuation plans; go-kits of emergency clothes, medicines, water and rations; flood insurance; a Continuity of Operations Plan for their businesses; and several possible evacuation routes from their homes.  If an evacuation is ordered, occupants of FEMA-provided travel trailers or mobile homes should be ready to lock the door and leave the trailer behind. Life after hurricanes can be stressful, but Project Recovery is available to help anyone needing crisis counseling, and it is free. Call 1-866-856-3227. Find evacuation routes for your area at www.GoMDOT.com. For general preparedness information, go to www.msema.org or www.ready.gov. 

More than $1.2 billion in assistance has been disbursed to more than 273,900 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 $836 million.  Other Needs Assistance (ONA), used for uninsured or under-insured disaster-related necessary expenses, is the second largest category at $361 million. ONA is a cost-share program that is 75 percent federally funded, 25 percent state funded. June 3 is the last day Katrina victims can apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance.

More than 102,000 people are housed temporarily in more than 38,000 FEMA-provided travel trailers and mobile homes, including the more than 3,000 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 $584 million for debris removal, $249 million for emergency protective measures, $145 million to repair public facilities, $155 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, nearly 43 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from public and private property.  Debris removal operations for the entire state of Mississippi are 97.6 percent complete. Municipalities in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties have until June 15 to provide FEMA a list of eligible structures on private and commercial property they have documented as immediate threats to health and safety which they want to demolish using federal funding. 

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid nearly
$2.4 billion in flood insurance claims to more than 16,600 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.