Special to The Leader

AUSTIN, Texas – More than $29.9 million in federal and state aid to date is helping the residents of 13 Texas counties recover from the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding in March.

Assistance is ongoing and residents of Erath, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hood, Jasper, Limestone, Marion, Newton, Orange, Parker, Shelby and Tyler counties are encouraged to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster assistance.

The state of Texas, FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and voluntary agencies have been working to help Texans recover. The following is a snapshot of the disaster recovery effort as of April 25:

• Nearly $18.4 million has been approved to help homeowners and renters;
• More than $11.5 million has been approved by SBA for 174 low-interest disaster loans for businesses, homeowners and renters to help pay for damage not covered by insurance.

– Of that, more than $11.2 million went to homeowners and renters; and

– More than $366,000 for businesses.

• 1,674 survivors have received assistance; and
• 99 percent of the home inspections have been completed.

Register with FEMA at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone (voice, 711 or video relay service) at 800-621-3362, TTY 800-462-7585. Toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week and multilingual operators are available.

Assistance from FEMA is meant to help jump-start the recovery process; it may not cover all damage or property loss. Completing an SBA low-interest disaster loan application may make additional assistance available to replace essential household items, replace or repair a damaged vehicle, or pay for storage costs.

Taking a loan is not required; completing the application can open the door to all federal assistance, including possible additional grants. If approved, and a survivor does not accept the loan, it may make them ineligible for additional assistance.

Applicants may apply at the online with SBA via the Electronic Loan Application on SBA’s secure website at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and application forms are also available online at

www.sba.gov/disaster, from SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955 or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Meet with an SBA Representative at a Disaster Recovery Center to learn more about disaster loans, the application process, or for help completing the SBA application. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call 800-877-8339.

Completed applications should be mailed to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

For more information on Texas recovery, visit the disaster webpage at fema.gov/disaster/4266, Twitter at twitter.com/femaregion6 and the Texas Division of Emergency Management website txdps.state.tx.us/dem.

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.