Nine More Oklahoma Counties Approved for FEMA Disaster Assistance

OKLAHOMA CITY – Nine additional Oklahoma counties have been approved for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Individual Assistance as a result of severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began on May 5.

Homeowners, renters and business owners in Carter, Jefferson, Latimer, Mayes, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pushmataha, Stephens and Tulsa counties can now apply for state and federal disaster assistance. This brings the number of approved counties in Oklahoma to 33.

Individual Assistance was extended to those counties after a review of on-going damage assessments by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Disaster assistance for qualified applicants may include:

• Grants for rental assistance or temporary housing;
• Grants for home repairs not covered by insurance;
• Grants for serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance—such as medical, dental, funeral, personal property, vehicles and moving and storage; and
• Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may be available to businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, and homeowners and renters for losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.

Counties previously approved for Individual Assistance as a result of the disaster declaration that covers the period May 5 through June 4 include Atoka, Beckham, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Choctaw, Cleveland, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Johnston, Kiowa, Le Flore, Marshall, McClain, McCurtain, McIntosh, Oklahoma, Pittsburg, Pottawatomie, Rogers, Seminole, Tillman, and Wagoner.

There are three easy ways to apply:

• Online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov;
• Via smartphone or web-enabled device by using the FEMA app;
• Or by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services can call 800-621-3362 to register.

For more information on Oklahoma disaster recovery, click www.fema.gov/disaster/4222  or visit the OEM site at www.oem.ok.gov.

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Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status.  If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) prepares for, responds to, recovers from and mitigates against emergencies and disasters. The department delivers services to Oklahoma cities, towns and counties through a network of more than 350 local emergency managers.

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. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.

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 non-profit 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. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call (800) 877-8339.