FEMA Disaster Recovery Center Open in Galena

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A state and federal Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is open in Galena to assist individuals, households and businesses affected by the 2013 spring floods.

The center is located at Building 1847, Composite Building, Galena Interior Learning Academy, 359 Challenger Road, Galena, AK 99741. GPS Coordinates: N 64 44.505, W 156 57.222. The DRC will be open seven days a week until further notice.

The center is staffed by disaster recovery specialists who can provide information and answer questions about flood-related assistance.

Those with 2013 spring flooding losses are encouraged to register with FEMA by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) or online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov. Registration by mobile device is also available at www.m.fema.gov.  Those with a speech disability or hearing loss who use TTY can call 800-462-7585 (TTY).  Multilingual registration can be done by phone.

Staff at the DRC will quickly review and update applicant information and address individual questions and concerns.

Those individuals unable to register by phone or online may register at the DRC. If you intend to register at the DRC, please bring:

• Your Social Security number
• Current and pre-disaster address
• Block and lot number.
• A telephone number where you can be contacted
• Insurance information
• Total household annual income
• A routing and account number from your bank (only necessary if you want to have disaster assistance funds transferred directly into your bank account). Lookup your bank routing number.
• A description of your losses that were caused by the disaster.

FEMA disaster assistance may include grants to help pay for housing, replace personal property and reimburse medical, storage and other serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance or charities. Assistance may also include low-interest federal disaster loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA).

SBA offers disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, nonprofit organizations for their uncompensated losses. Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence. Homeowners and renters may borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property. Businesses may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace their property damage and/or economic losses.

You can apply in person for an SBA disaster loan at the DRC and receive one-on-one help from an SBA representative. For additional information on SBA disaster loan assistance, call SBA at 800-659-2955, or visit www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.  Those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and use TTY may call 800-877-8339 directly.

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.