Hi I'm Ernie Martz with FEMA, this is a Red River Valley disaster update for April 21, 2009.

As flood water recedes in many areas of North Dakota and Minnesota, federal disaster assistance is pouring in.

So far, over three point three million dollars have been approved for Individual Assistance to residents of the two states impacted by ongoing floods.

That number includes two point three million in North Dakota and over one million in Minnesota for housing assistance and other needs assistance. 

To date, more than two thousand one hundred and thirty residents have applied with FEMA by calling the toll free number 1-800-621-FEMA or by going on-line to disasterassistance.gov.

Multilingual representatives are available. 

Speech or hearing-impaired may use TTY 1-800-462-7585.

Federal and state officials are working together across the region and are addressing the needs of communities in the southeast part of North Dakota to assist in local flood-fighting efforts.

FEMA has sent several truckloads of mass care supplies to the area, including enough to supply fifteen hundred people for three days. 

This includes blankets, cots, fifteen thousand liters of water and over fifty thousand meals. 

The FEMA helpline is available to assist you. If you have any questions regarding disaster recovery please call.

The helpline number is the same as the registration number1-800-621-3362. That's 800-621-FEMA.


Thank you.