Special to The Leader

AUSTIN, Texas – Texans in 41 designated counties who suffered damage and losses from Hurricane Harvey now have until Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, to register for disaster assistance.

Registration is open to survivors in Aransas, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Brazoria, Caldwell, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Karnes, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Polk, Refugio, Sabine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Tyler, Victoria, Walker, Waller, and Wharton counties.

Survivors may register for assistance the following ways:

• Online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.
• Via the FEMA mobile app, available at fema.gov/mobile-app
• Phone (800) 621-3362(711 or Video Relay Service) 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily,

TTY (800) 462-7585.

• At a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). Find your nearest DRC at fema.gov/drc.

FEMA grants do not have to be repaid. FEMA assistance is nontaxable and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid or other federal benefits.

This extension also gives survivors more time to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property.

These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.

There are two DRCs in Orange County

• Orange County Convention and Expo Center

11475 FM 1442 in Orange

Services available are: Registration, status update, SBA

Hours are Thurs. – Sat. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Registration is also available Mon. – Wed. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

• Vidor Police Station (Behind the police department)

695 E. Railroad Street in Vidor

Services available are: Registration, status update, SBA

Hours are Thurs. – Sat. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Registration is also available Mon. – Wed. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Applicants may apply online using SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

In addition, applicants can get more information on SBA disaster assistance by calling SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955, by visitingwww.sba.gov/disaster, or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may call

(800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

For more information on Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the Hurricane Harvey disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4332, or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FEMAharvey, the FEMA Region6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6, or the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at www.dps.texas.gov/dem/.