Federal/State Gustav Disaster Aid Exceeds $20 Million 

Release Date: November 7, 2008
Release Number: 1794-040

» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Gustav

LONG BEACH, Miss. -- Disaster aid for homeowners, renters, business owners, state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations affected by Hurricane Gustav reached $20,236,338 thus far, according to officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Twenty-two Mississippi counties were declared eligible for federal Public Assistance (PA) only and five counties were declared eligible for both PA and Individual Assistance (IA).

PA is available to state and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations and can be used for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and repair or replacement of public buildings, roads, bridges, parks and publicly owned utilities.

The counties eligible for PA are: Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Forrest, Franklin, George, Hancock, Harrison, Issaquena, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Pearl River, Pike, Stone, Walthall, Washington and Wilkinson.

IA is disaster aid to homeowners, renters and business owners and can be used for temporary housing, repair to damaged houses, other necessary disaster-related expenses such as medical and dental expenses, funeral and burial costs and repair or replacement of essential personal property.

The five counties also eligible for IA are: Adams, Hancock, Harrison, Washington and Wilkinson. FEMA disaster assistance covers basic needs only and will not normally compensate storm victims for their entire loss. For those with insurance, the government may help pay for basic needs not covered by insurance.

Nov. 25, 2008, is the deadline for residents to apply for federal and state disaster assistance, including SBA low-interest disaster loans. Mississippians who received a low-interest disaster loan application should complete and return it as soon as possible. If an applicant completes a loan application and is determined to be ineligible for an SBA loan, he or she will be referred back to FEMA for consideration of receiving a grant.  Unlike loans, grants do not have to be paid back.

The following figures provided by FEMA, MEMA and SBA officials represent disaster aid approved through Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008:

The county-by-county breakdown of Individual Assistance is as follows:

Declared
County		 Applications
for
Assistance		 Housing
Assistance
$		 Other Needs
Assistance
$
Adams 2,374 $408,901 $98,757
Hancock 924 $738,955 $193,899
Harrison 993 $119,257 $21,200
Washington 2,376 $2,893,582 $558,575
Wilkinson 669 $247,576 $19,975
Total 7,336 $4,408,271 $892,406

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are urging anyone who sustained damage from Hurricane Gustav to register with FEMA before the Nov. 25 deadline for disaster assistance by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), TTY 1-800-462-7585 for the hearing- or speech-impaired, or by going online to www.fema.gov.

Nov. 25, 2008, also is the deadline to apply for SBA low-interest disaster loans. To obtain Information on the SBA disaster loan program call SBA's Customer Service Center, Monday through Friday,from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 1-800-659-2955, by visiting the SBA web site at www.sba.gov, or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Disaster victims can visit SBA's secure Web site at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/ to apply online for disaster loans.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Friday, 07-Nov-2008 11:38:37