ELBERTA, Ala. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has officially set up shop in Baldwin County.
At 8 o’clock Friday morning, a FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center opened in at ElbertaTown Hall in Elberta. By 10, they had already seen …
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ELBERTA, Ala. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has officially set up shop in Baldwin County.
At 8 o’clock Friday morning, a FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center opened in at ElbertaTown Hall in Elberta. By 10, they had already seen about a dozen applicants.
“In two hours, we’ve seen 12 people,” said FEMA representative Ericka Lopez.
The purpose of the site is to provide a brick-and-mortar site for BaldwinCounty residents to visit when seeking assistance with recovery from last week’s severe-weather event.
“It makes it easy for an individual, and for us to come and meet those needs,” Lopez said.
Help includes representatives of various organizations being on hand to answer questions and offer guidance. On hand in Elberta are such entities as the Alabama Public Health Department, who also offered free mosquito pellets to place in standing water. Other representatives included Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way and Legal Services of Alabama.
But working in conjunction with FEMA provide financial assistance is the U.S. Small Business Administration. And SBA Public Affairs Specialist Tom Nocera pointed out the importance of the president’s declaration on Wednesday that BaldwinCounty is a disaster area.
“Everybody is eligible (for financial assistance) that lives in BaldwinCounty,” he said.
All that’s required is to first register with FEMA and provide SBA with that registration number. To register with FEM, Lopez said residents have three options besides visiting the Center:
“They can still apply for assistance here at the Center,” Lopez said, adding that first registering by one of the above methods could help speed the process.
However, Nocera said the process seems to be running pretty smoothly.
“We’ve already approved our first disaster loan for Alabama,” he said. “That’s a good sign.”
Assistance is provided in two ways. One is help for individuals who have suffered loss.
“Some people have lost their cars,” Nocera said. “We help them with an interest-loan that’s a little over 2 percent.”
According to Lopez, FEMA also provides public assistance.
“P.A. helps state and local recovery of infrastructures,” she said.
The Elberta site of the FEMA/State Disaster Recovery Center is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. every day except Sunday until further notice. An additional site is planned to open at the FairhopeCivicCenter on May 10 with a possible third site opening next week.
