Wisconsin Disaster Assistance Tops $10 Million 

Deadline for registering quickly approaching

Release Date: October 3, 2007
Release Number: 1719-034

» More Information on Wisconsin Severe Storms and Flooding

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Disaster assistance has topped $10.7 million for the 14 Wisconsin counties hard hit by the Aug. 18-31 storms and flooding, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Registration for FEMA individual assistance closes Oct. 25. The deadline for homeowners, renters and businesses submitting applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is also Oct. 25. Anyone who was impacted by the storms and flooding Aug. 18-31 and has not applied, should do so before these dates.

More than 4,400 Wisconsin households have applied for assistance, with a daily average of about 30 applications in the last ten days. More than $6 million in housing assistance has been approved under the Individuals and Households Program.

This assistance may be used for temporary disaster housing and the repair of disaster-damaged, uninsured homes to a safe, sanitary and functional condition. About 3,700 homes have been inspected by FEMA since the disaster was declared. Inspections have been done, on average, in less than three days from the time of application.

In addition, about $338,000 has been approved for individual expenses through the Other Needs Assistance (ONA) program for serious, disaster-related needs and expenses not covered by insurance or other assistance programs. As of Oct. 2, more than 99 percent of the approved individual assistance funds have been dispersed to the applicants.

FEMA has received 126 requests for Public Assistance (PA) grants as of Oct. 2 from local governments in the five counties approved for PA which include: Crawford, La Crosse, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties. The deadline for requests for PA is Monday, Oct. 8.

With PA grants, FEMA provides not less than 75% of eligible costs for emergency response efforts taken to protect lives or property, debris removal, and repair of damaged public facilities like schools, water treatment plants, utility systems, parks, bridges and roads. The state of Wisconsin provides 12.5 percent and the local government provides 12.5 percent of the cost.

Wisconsin will also receive an amount from FEMA under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program equal to 20 percent of the total federal funds allocated in the Public Assistance and Individual Assistance Programs for this disaster declaration. This percentage reflects five percent additional funding because Wisconsin has an approved enhanced state hazard mitigation plan in place. These grants are provided to the state for projects that will reduce the loss of life and property in future disasters.

Here is a breakdown of FEMA Housing and Other Needs Assistance by county:

#Applicants County Total

76

COLUMBIA

$66,929.32

412

CRAWFORD

$1,345,389.22

666

DANE

$539,489.01

57

GRANT

$117,078.37

128

GREEN

$196,146.46

77

IOWA

$64,308.11

101

JEFFERSON

$118,463.74

147

KENOSHA

$213,701.37

636

LA CROSSE

$744,292.32

216

RACINE

$189,747.39

453

RICHLAND

$536,782.44

194

ROCK

$123,930.34

166

SAUK

$202,491.65

1,101

VERNON

$1,920,380.05

4,430

 

$6,379,129.79

as of 10/02/07

Amount Dispersed

$6,370,257.60

Individuals and businesses may register for assistance online at www.fema.gov anytime or by calling toll-free 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday beginning Monday, Oct. 8. Applicants may also call those numbers to reach the FEMA Helpline to check on the status or update their applications. The Helpline is now closed Sundays and federal holidays.

As of Oct. 2, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued more than 4,000 home and business loan applications. SBA officials encourage anyone who has received an application from the SBA to return it as soon as possible in order to be eligible for any further assistance. Deadline for turning in SBA physical loan applications is October 25.

SBA has approved 158 loans for a combined total of $4,346,000 as of Oct. 2 to homeowners, renters and businesses of any size for property losses not fully covered by insurance. In addition, small businesses may receive loans to help provide working capital funds to recover from the disaster's economic impact. 

Nearly 1,600 residents visited Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) seeking information from various assistance agencies. All DRCs are now closed, but currently, six SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs) remain operating at the former DRC locations accepting applications, answering questions and doing loan closings.

DLOCs are open Mon-Fri from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sat. 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the following locations:

A large number of voluntary agencies have been working to help residents clean-up, serving meals in the affected regions and providing other assistance. To request help from voluntary agencies or to volunteer to help, call 211 from a land line, or 1-877-947-2211 from a cell phone.

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: Wednesday, 03-Oct-2007 16:53:10