After Rita, FEMA Reached Out To Ethnic Populations
Release Date: September 19, 2006
Release Number: 1606-253
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Throughout the Hurricane Rita disaster response and recovery effort, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has reached out to non-English speaking populations with information in Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages.
Callers to the FEMA toll-free helpline, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585 have access to operators in 173 languages and dialects. Choose Option 2 in the voice menu for Spanish and Option 3 for other languages.
Languages readily available to Texas residents include Spanish, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Chinese (Mandarin), German, French, Korean, Russian and Creole.
When a call comes in for non-English assistance, it is forwarded to a Language Services Coordinator who determines the language and dialect needed. The caller is then helped with registering for aid and having questions answered by someone speaking his or her native language.
FEMA’s news releases and other informational documents are translated for ethnic populations. FEMA public information officers also provide interviews to local television and radio stations targeted to cultural groups.
During the past year, FEMA representatives in Orange and Jefferson Counties found that hurricane victims were not contacting FEMA because they didn’t speak English. Team members initiated a comprehensive outreach that included hiring local citizens to work with Community Relations teams. FEMA also held a town hall-style meeting and a series of workshops to discuss FEMA programs for individual assistance.
In addition to the workshops, Vietnamese and Spanish interpreters worked alongside FEMA representatives at the Disaster Recovery Centers, where disaster survivors were able to meet face-to-face with program representatives to discuss unmet needs in disaster recovery.
FEMA also published a newsletter, Recovery Times, in Spanish and in Vietnamese. Recovery Times is a newsletter with information on disaster assistance programs and recovery resources.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 19-Sep-2006 12:49:33