Mississippi Recovery Update For Hurricane Katrina: Week 24 

Release Date: February 17, 2006
Release Number: 1604-249

» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina

BILOXI, Miss. -- Federal and state disaster officials provided the following summary of the ongoing assistance effort as of close of business Feb. 15, 2006. Please see attached spreadsheet for county-specific information.

1
The cruise ship Holiday docked in Pascagoula is the single emergency shelter still open, currently housing 52 households. At the height of devastation on Sept. 5, 2005, the American Red Cross was operating more than 129 shelters, housing 15,000 evacuees. With the success of transitional housing programs, the Red Cross closed its last shelter the week of Nov. 28, 2005.

11
March 11, 2006, is the deadline for new applications to FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program. Federal and state officials encourage households affected by Hurricane Katrina to seek aid. Assistance to current applicants will continue to be provided after this date but no new applications will be accepted.

15
Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) operate throughout Mississippi to assist people affected by Hurricane Katrina. More than 420,000 Mississippians have visited DRCs since the first one opened Sept. 6, 2005, just days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

175 MPH
Hurricane Katrina intensified to a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds. It was the fifth most intense Atlantic Basin hurricane on record.

726
FEMA has provided 726 temporary public buildings in nine Mississippi counties. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), working on assignment, has delivered, installed and released for occupancy 493 temporary classrooms and 233 office buildings to various local governments. As of Feb. 14, 2006, the temporary building mission is complete.

3,700
Approximately 3,700 people are working as part of the disaster recovery efforts in Mississippi. This includes nearly 1,800 FEMA employees and 1,900 employees for other agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and USACE.

98,888
Nearly 99,000 people are temporarily housed in more than 36,600 FEMA-provided travel trailers and mobile homes. This includes nearly 2,000 units that are either mobile homes designated as fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or ADA-friendly travel trailers.

407,550
To date, FEMA has completed approximately 407,550 housing inspections. The inspection process includes a complete overview of structural damage. The inspector records all disaster-related damages and may survey damaged personal property, clothing and vehicles.

515,000
Nearly 515,500 Mississippians have registered for assistance through the FEMA toll-free number at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 for speech- or hearing-impaired applicants or online at www.fema.gov.

$6 million
More than $6.6 million has been allocated to Mississippi for the program, “A Safe Place to Go,” for the construction of safe rooms or storm shelters to protect residents during severe weather. FEMA reimburses up to 75 percent of eligible costs to property owners. Since 2001, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency program has installed more than 2,100 safe rooms and 180 community shelters.

32 million
Approximately 32.8 million cubic yards of debris has been removed from public and private property so far. FEMA continues to reimburse Mississippi 100 percent for this expense and will do so until March 15, 2006.

$739 million
The Public Assistance program has obligated nearly $739 million for emergency work and infrastructure repair. This includes $418 million for debris removal, $40 million to repair public facilities, $210 million for emergency protective measures, $3.9 million to repair roads and bridges and $50 million to restore public utilities.

$1 billion
To date, more than $1 billion in assistance has been disbursed to nearly 335,000 Mississippi households that have registered through FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP). The IHP consists of Housing Assistance, which may be used to pay for rent, repair or housing construction and Other Needs Assistance (ONA) which may be provided for uninsured or under-insured disaster-related necessary expenses. ONA is a cost-share program which is 75 percent federal, 25 percent state funded.

$1.4 Billion
The U.S. Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Program has approved more than $1.4 billion in low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and business owners throughout Mississippi.

$1.8 Billion
FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid more than $1.8 billion in flood insurance claims to nearly 14,000 policyholders in Mississippi. The NFIP plays a critical role in encouraging communities to adopt, implement and enforce broader floodplain-management regulations and programs.

$4.5 Billion
To date, FEMA has approved nearly $4.5 billion in federal funding for various Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, as well as mission assignments, which FEMA tasked to other federal agencies to aid Mississippians on the road to recovery.

Federal and state disaster recovery officials urge those who have not done so to apply for disaster assistance as soon as possible by calling the toll-free application number at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 for speech- or hearing-impaired. Individuals may also register online at www.fema.gov . The deadline for new applications for Individual Assistance is Mar. 11, 2006.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Thursday, 23-Feb-2006 14:19:40