Recovery Center Opens in Stone County to Help Missouri Flood Survivors

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., June 23 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:

A new FEMA Disaster Recovery Center opens Monday, June 26, in Stone County in the city of Galena. Disaster recovery centers offer in-person support to individuals and businesses in any of the 27 counties included in the Missouri federal disaster declaration for flooding and severe storms that occurred between April 28 and May 11, 2017.

Recovery specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will be at the center to discuss assistance and to help anyone who needs information or assistance filing an application.

The Stone County recovery center location:

Stone County Community Annex

106 E. 5th St.

Galena, MO 65656

Open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Closes permanently Friday June 30.

Homeowners, renters and business-owners are encouraged to register with FEMA before visiting a disaster recovery center. Survivors can register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling toll-free 800-621-3362 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual registration assistance is available. Survivors may also register using the FEMA app for smartphones.

The following information is helpful when registering:

* Social Security number

* Address of the location where the damage occurred (pre-disaster address)

* Current mailing address

* Current telephone number

* Insurance information

* Total household annual income

* Routing and account number for checking or savings account (this allows FEMA to directly transfer disaster assistance funds into a bank account)

A description of disaster-caused damage and losses

Disaster survivors can visit any of the FEMA disaster centers for assistance. Locations of recovery centers may be found online at https://recovery.mo.gov/ and at www.fema.gov/DRC.

FEMA provides grants to qualified individuals for rental assistance, home repairs or other serious disaster-related losses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters.

SBA also offers low-interest working capital loans (called Economic Injury Disaster Loans) to small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations having difficulty meeting obligations as a result of the disaster.

For more information, applicants may contact SBA's Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA's website at SBA.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and FEMA are committed to ensuring services and assistance are available for people with disabilities or others with access and functional needs. People who have a need or a request for reasonable accommodation should let the staff know when they register. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Services may call 800-621-3362. Those who use TTY may call 800-462-7585; MO Relay 800-735-2966; CapTel 877-242-2823; Speech to Speech 877-735-7877; VCO 800-735-0135. Operators will be available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.

The federal disaster declaration covers eligible losses caused by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding between April 28 and May 11, 2017 in these counties: Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell, Jasper, Jefferson, Madison, Maries, McDonald, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, St. Louis, Stone, Taney, and Texas.