Disaster Recovery Centers Set to Close

Since Tropical Storm Debby blew out of Florida, 12,565 people have called FEMA for information and assistance and more than $22 million has been delivered in federal and state financial assistance.

Assistance includes $15.2 million for housing, $1.9 million approved to cover disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses and $5 million in low interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

More than 7,300 Floridians have visited Disaster Recovery Centers across the state. Local survivors have until Saturday to visit disaster recovery centers in Pinellas and Sarasota counties. The Manatee County center closed last Saturday.

Representatives from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U. S. Small Business Administration and other agencies are at the centers to explain disaster assistance programs and help survivors apply for aid.

 Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until Saturday, Aug. 4 at the following locations:

Pinellas County
Park Station, Pinellas Park Chamber of Commerce
5851 Park Blvd.
Pinellas Park, FL 33781

Sarasota County
Venice City Hall
Community Hall Room 114
401 W. Venice Ave.
Venice, FL 34285

Help is also available by calling FEMA’s toll-free helpline at 800-621-3362. Lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and assistance is available in most languages. Survivors who are deaf or hard of hearing and use a TTY can call 800-462-7585.

Helpline staff can direct survivors to any of the remaining recovery centers if face-to-face guidance is needed. The nearest center can also be found by going to www.FEMA.gov/DRCLocator.

For more information on Florida’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov or www.floridadisaster.org/. On Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/FloridaSERT. To receive Twitter updates: twitter.com/FLSERT or www.twitter.com/femaregion4.