EDITORIAL: Recovery center final piece to to getting things back to normal

Sept. 29--Glynn County residents should have everything in place now to make a full recovery after Hurricane Irma.

The final piece of that puzzle came this week when the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a Disaster Recovery Center at Ballard Park. The center is the go-to spot for local residents to find information on and to apply for individual or business recovery assistance. The center includes representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses, renters and homeowners.

There are other options to contact FEMA for assistance online or by telephone, but as a FEMA representative told The News last week, phone lines are often tied up with the thousands of other people from Florida and Texas, where disasters left a path of destruction in the past month. He encouraged online applications, but the opportunity to talk to a real person will go a long way for people in getting their questions answered and their homes back in order.

People can apply for assistance at Ballard Park, 323 Old Jesup Road, online at disasterassistance.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362. You will need your Social Security number, the address of the damaged property, a description of the damage, a current telephone number, an address where you are receiving mail and bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit.

The SBA also has a relief center set up at the University of Georgia Marine Extension headquarters at 715 Bay St. in Brunswick.

We encourage anyone with a damaged home to visit the center and take advantage of the help offered there.

Otherwise, both the city and the county now have contracts in place for debris removal so people's yards and public parks can begin getting back to normal.

The IRS is also offering tax deadline extensions to people with upcoming due dates, and legal assistance is available through the Georgia Legal Services program by calling 866-584-8027 or 404-527-8793.

Combined with the help of local insurance agents, these services should provide everything needed for folks to get things back to normal.

We are thankful for such a swift and thorough response, especially considering our local damage pales in comparison to that seen in parts of Florida, Texas and especially Puerto Rico, where the death toll is still rising and the recovery could take years.

We are fortunate to have so many options to find help and to be able to so quickly begin putting Irma behind us.

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