Federal Gulf Coast Response To Hurricanes Katrina And Rita
Release Date: September 30, 2005
Release Number: 1603-053
» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Rita
» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Katrina
BATON ROUGE, La. - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with other federal agencies, continues to respond to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
-
There are 884 shelters housing 100,305 evacuees of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita nationwide.
- To date, 42,170 active duty and National Guard personnel are on the ground or aboard ships supporting relief efforts.
- To enable low-income individuals and families affected by Hurricane Rita to access food assistance more easily, the Department of Agriculture has approved requests for Louisiana and Texas to operate modified Food Stamp programs.
- In Texas, the program was approved for individuals who lived in the nine counties declared major disaster areas. The counties are: Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, and Tyler.
- The approved parishes in Louisiana are: Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and Vermilion.
In Texas, people are allowed to apply for benefits throughout the State. In Louisiana, people may apply for benefits in any parish in the State.
-
To date 1.13 billion individuals have registered for financial assistance. To register, call the FEMA application and Helpline number: 1-800-621-FEMA (3662) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY); or register on-line at www.fema.gov. Phone lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week until further notice.
- FEMA has distributed $783,784,770 for Hurricane Katrina transitional housing assistance to 332,392 applicants.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has produced a "Resources at Risk" document for Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River to prioritize response and protect environmentally sensitive areas from oil. The document is available on NOAA's response link. Web site: http://www.incidentnews.gov/
Last Modified: Monday, 03-Oct-2005 06:49:39