Community Relations Teams Reach Out To Mississippi Communities
Release Date: November 18, 2005
Release Number: 1604-138
» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina
JACKSON, Miss. – Teams of local, state and federal workers continue to fan out across hurricane-damaged areas in Mississippi to make sure Hurricane Katrina victims have access to the help they need.
Since Katrina’s Aug. 29 landfall, the community relations teams have completed door-to-door canvassing in the hardest-hit areas such as Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis. The teams are coordinated through the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
More than 100 community relations members, including Spanish and Vietnamese speakers, are in the field visiting shelters and hotels and helping to place families and those with special needs in travel trailers. So far, the teams have made 1,125 visits to shelters and identified 3,189 evacuees staying in 88 hotels and motels.
“Our community relations teams are working with voluntary organizations and local officials to help evacuees make the transition from hotels and shelters into more permanent housing,” said Nick Russo, federal coordinating officer for the disaster.
The teams have also assisted the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce in its business revitalization efforts by contacting 1,636 local businesses to survey the damage. The teams will help determine what needs to be rebuilt and how many employees are slated to be hired. The teams will continue to act as a liaison to the chambers of commerce.
“There was no way we could have accomplished all that we did without the help of FEMA,” said Tish Williams, director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. “The community relations specialists not only conducted the surveys, but they got important information out. We still don’t have fully functioning phone and computer service, and they provided a full force town crier system.”
In total, community relations teams have provided disaster assistance information to 5,998 businesses, 150,337 state and corporate employees, 290 schools, 103,213 students, 3,037 churches, 621 community-based organizations, 387 county governmental agencies and 702 chambers of commerce and local agencies.
The FEMA toll-free number to register for assistance is 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the speech- or hearing-impaired. For additional U. S. Small Business Administration loan information, call 1-800-359-2227 or go to the agency’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster.
Last Modified: Friday, 18-Nov-2005 16:39:06