Hurricane Katrina Recovery Update: Week 33 

To date, FEMA has obligated more than $7.6 billion in federal funding to aid Mississippians through various Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, including $3.1 billion in mission assignments, which FEMA tasked to other federal agencies.

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.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Assistance Program has approved more than $2.1 billion in low-interest loans for homeowners, renters and business owners throughout Mississippi.

More than $1.1 billion in assistance has been disbursed to more than 273,000 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 federally funded, 25 percent state funded.

The Public Assistance program has obligated more than $998 million for emergency work and infrastructure repair. This includes $512 million for debris removal, $229 million for emergency protective measures, $85 million to repair public facilities, $134 million to restore public utilities, $21 million to restore public recreational facilities such as state parks, $13.8 million to repair roads and bridges and $931,000 to repair water control devices such as reservoirs and irrigation channels.

Nearly 40 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from public and private property so far. The amount of debris removed to date in Mississippi would fill more than 390 football fields, stacked 50 feet high. Debris removal operations for the entire state of Mississippi are more than 90 percent complete.

Nearly 516,000 Mississippians 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.

Nearly 103,000 persons are temporarily housed in more than 38,000 FEMA-provided travel trailers and mobile homes. This includes more than 2,500 units that are mobile homes fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or ADA-friendly travel trailers.

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.

As part of the state of Mississippi's "Stay Alert. Stay Alive." hurricane awareness campaign, both FEMA and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) encourage Mississippians to get ready now for the 2006 hurricane season by developing a family disaster plan and preparing a family disaster supply kit. Families can obtain more information on hurricane preparedness by going to www.ready.gov or www.msema.org or by calling their county emergency management office.

If residents do not have personal transportation in case of an evacuation, they should call MEMA’s Evacuation Transportation Survey phone line before

May 26. 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 number is open from 8 a.m. to
6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.