LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- State and federal assistance for two active disaster recovery missions in Arkansas has reached $36.5 million, according to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Since the May 2 presidential disaster declaration designating 37 counties eligible for Individual Assistance and 58 counties for Public Assistance, $34,826,792 has been approved or obligated. A separate declaration July 8 designated Franklin and Johnson counties eligible for Individual Assistance and Franklin, Johnson and Crawford counties eligible for Public Assistance. Totals in those counties have topped $1.6 million.
Those figures include grants for Housing Assistance and Other Needs Assistance to eligible residents, low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and reimbursements from FEMA's Public Assistance program.
FEMA and ADEM provided the following breakdown in current assistance levels for the counties stricken by storms, tornadoes and floods between April 14 and June 3, and for Franklin and Johnson counties, which received a separate declaration for the May 24-26 storms and tornadoes:
| PROGRAMS | TOTAL ASSISTANCE |
|---|---|
| Housing Assistance | $19,963,188 |
| Other Needs Assistance | $3,663,104 |
| SBA low-interest disaster loans | $11,739,200 |
| Public Assistance | $1,085,713 |
| Disaster Unemployment Assistance | $49,377 |
To date, nearly 10,300 individuals and families have registered with FEMA in the 37 counties designated for Individual Assistance grants under the May 2 declaration. The registration deadline for residents in those counties is August 1.
In Franklin and Johnson counties, nearly 400 survivors have registered with FEMA. Residents in those two counties have until Sept. 6 to register.
To register for assistance or check on the status of a registration, residents can go online to www.disasterassistance.gov, via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov, or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. FEMA phone lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week; multilingual operators are available.
Follow FEMA tweets about the Arkansas disaster at www.twitter.com/femaregion6. Other online resources include blog.fema.gov, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema.
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.