Corsicana flood victim Prine a FEMA success story

Dec. 23--Victoria Prine knew water entered her home during the floods in October but it wasn't until an underground pipe broke that she realized the extent of the damages. The flood waters rose under her house and buckled the sub-flooring. The damages spread to the walls and caused mold on the ceiling.

Prine lives on East Thompson Avenue and came home one day to find the Federal Emergency Management Agency had placed a flyer on her door. She took it as a sign.

"I had a hot water line that broke and when we were making those repairs is when we discovered the flooding," Prine said. "All of the houses flooded on my street but I'm the only one who reached out to FEMA. The water in my neighbor's house was so high, she had her bed up on stilts."

According to FEMA, Prine applied for individual assistance at the Disaster Recovery Center at 800 North Main Street on Dec. 8. On Dec. 11, FEMA inspected Prine's home to review her application. On Dec. 15, she received her funding.

"We are very happy when people who have had injuries during a disaster comes full circle and come in ask for help," Troy York, FEMA media specialist said. "They receive the help and then put the money back in their homes,"

Prine is currently staying in a hotel room, but plans to move into an RV in her driveway to care for her pets and get a little piece of her life back.

She had four different foundation repair companies come out to look at her property and all four said they would not touch it. Finally the fifth, Foundation Specialists out of Palestine agreed to take on the project.

"I want to thank Chris Thompson, of Foundation Specialists," Prine said. "His crew was supposed to be off for the holidays but are working this week to get me back into my home."

Prine said she was hesitant to seek help from FEMA at first but is glad she applied. With the money she sets from FEMA she is able to keep the construction crews on task while keeping up with her mortgage.

"Her case was successful and that is something that we strive for," York said. "We want that to be the case for everyone it may not always be the case but we certainly strive to get it done as quickly as possible because we don't want people to be displaced, we want them back in their homes."

Assistance for eligible survivors can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, and for other serious disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses or funeral and burial costs. Low-interest disaster loans from SBA also may be available to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.

Eligible survivors should register with FEMA even if they have insurance. FEMA cannot duplicate insurance payments, but under-insured applicants may receive help after their insurance claims have been settled.

People who had damage can also register for FEMA assistance by calling 1-800-621-3362 toll free from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Multilingual operators are available or online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov

Disaster assistance applicants who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY should call 800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

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Michael Kormos is a Daily Sun staff writer. He may be reached by email at mkormos@corsicanadailysun.com

------FEMA Disaster Recovery Center Holiday Hours

Tuesday, Dec. 22 --

9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

FEMA will not have any services available Wednesday, Dec. 23 to Sunday Dec. 27.

Will open Monday Dec. 28 and resume regular hours until Thursday Dec. 31 when they willl close at 2 p.m.

FEMA help line is available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Call 1-800-621-3362.

Normal hours are from

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday

to Friday, and Saturday

from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.,

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