LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Monday, Nov. 23, is the last day that wildfire survivors in Lake County can register to receive housing or other needs assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and apply for disaster recovery loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
It will be day 60 since President Obama declared the massive wildfires in the two counties to be major disasters, which enabled FEMA to provide federal recovery grants to qualified registered applicants.
The declaration also enabled the SBA to offer low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofits, homeowners and renters for physical damage, personal property losses and economic injury.
Monday, Nov. 23 is also the last day to visit the three open Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs).
In-person registration is available at Lake County's two DRCs, located at 14860 Olympic Drive in the Burns Valley Mall in Clearlake and at the Middletown Senior Center, 21256 Washington St.
Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed on Sunday.
To further meet the needs of wildfire survivors, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, the Middletown facility in Lake County will open an hour later, at 9 a.m., and transition to an SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC). Hours will be Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Clearlake Disaster Recovery Center will close permanently at 6 p.m. on Nov. 23.
The Middletown DLOC will be closed from Thanksgiving Day through the weekend, reopening on Monday, Nov. 30.
At the DLOC, disaster loan applicants will be able to meet with SBA representatives to finalize applications started before the Nov. 23 deadline. The SBA DLOC will be open until further notice.
Applying for an SBA low-interest disaster loan is part of federal disaster assistance. Many people who apply to FEMA are automatically referred to the SBA for a low-interest disaster assistance loan. Survivors should complete SBA loan applications so they can be considered for all available disaster assistance.
The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is also available to small businesses that did not suffer physical losses, with an application deadline open until June 22, 2016.
As of Monday, between Lake County and Calaveras County – the latter being the site of the Butte fire – FEMA has approved nearly $10.7 million to help individuals and households recover; more than $7 million for housing and nearly $3.7 million for other needs assistance.
The SBA has approved nearly $14.4 million in low-interest disaster recovery loans, nearly $1.8 million to businesses and private nonprofit organizations and nearly $12.6 million to homeowners and renters. Those numbers also are a combination of what has been granted for both the Valley and Butte fires.
Registration with FEMA – easily done by telephone, online or in-person – is required to become eligible for housing or other needs assistance.
Survivors can register for FEMA assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362; TTY 800-462-7585; 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362.
After online and telephone registration ends at midnight Monday, Nov. 23, the same contact numbers can be used to ask FEMA about pending applications or other issues.
A direct telephone hotline is operational to process any requests from survivors who may need additional assistance: 916-381-0330, for TTY, call 711.
For more information on California’s wildfire recovery, visit www.caloes.ca.gov or www.fema.gov/disaster/4240 and follow the agency on Twitter @femaregion9 and @Cal_OES and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA and www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOES .
Officials: One week left to register with FEMA and apply for SBA disaster loans
- Lake County News reports
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