FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center Coming To Manatee County

BRADENTON, FL – Hurricane Hermine may not have made direct landfall in Manatee County, but area residents are still dealing with the aftermath of the storm.

With the disaster assistance registration deadline for Hurricane Hermine a few weeks away, a FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center will open in Manatee County to bring information about available state and federal assistance.

The DRC will open at G.T. Bray Park, 5502 33rd Ave. Drive W., Bradenton, from Thursday, Nov. 10 to Sunday, Nov. 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

DRCs are staffed with representatives from FEMA, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Residents can receive help applying for federal disaster assistance, learn about the types of assistance available, learn about the appeals process and obtain updates regarding applications.

Many services offered at DRCs are also available by calling the FEMA helpline at (800) 621-3362 or (800) 462-7585 for TTY. Multilingual operators are available. These toll-free lines are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.

Residents with questions regarding the application or the appeals process, or who need to register for assistance, can also visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov/. Those already registered for disaster assistance with FEMA are asked to stay in touch.

For more information about SBA loans, call SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or TYY at (800) 877-8339, e-mail disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or visit www.sba.gov/disaster. Applicants can also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application on the SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.

Manatee County was added to the Individual Assistance Declaration for Hurricane Hermine on Nov. 4. The storm stalled off the coast of Manatee County for several days at the end of August and the beginning of September, with heavy rainfall and gusty winds impacting the county.

For more information on Florida’s disaster recovery from Hurricane Hermine, visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4280, https://twitter.com/femaregion4, http://www.facebook.com/FEMA, http://www.floridadisaster.org/index.asp, or #FLRecovers on Twitter.

Image via Chris Scott, Flickr, used under Creative Commons