Second Recovery Center opens in Beaufort County

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Wednesday, Nov. 2) – Beaufort County survivors of the storms and floods of Hurricane Matthew can get information and disaster assistance from the specialists staffing the county’s second Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in the Town Hall Council Chambers, 1 Town Center Court, Hilton Head, SC 29928. The center is open weekly Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until further notice.  It is closed on Sunday.

Representatives from the State of South Carolina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration and voluntary organizations are at the DRC to provide guidance concerning disaster recovery and rental resources, explain written correspondence from FEMA, inform survivors of the status of their application, make referrals to other organizations and to answer questions.

If possible, survivors should register with FEMA before visiting the DRC.  Registration can be online at  DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 and video services) or 800-462-7585 (TTY). The toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.  Multilingual operators are available.

DRCs are accessible to people with disabilities. The centers have tools to amplify sound, magnifiers and materials in alternative formats along with video remote interpretation. Sign language interpreters are available upon request at the center.

FEMA mitigation specialists are available at DRCs to provide literature to survivors on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and guidance on cost-effective rebuilding and repair techniques to make homes more flood resistant. For more specific NFIP questions, survivors can call the NFIP Support Call Center by dialing 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) and pressing 2.

After registering with FEMA, survivors may also be eligible for low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA offers such loans to businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters.  SBA loans are for uninsured or underinsured disaster losses. SBA advises it is not necessary to wait for an insurance settlement before submitting the loan application.

The other Beaufort County DRC is at the Burton Wells Recreation Center, 1 Middleton Recreation Dr., Beaufort, SC 29906. It is open Monday – Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and closed Thursday through Sunday.

All FEMA disaster assistance will be provided without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex (including sexual harassment), religion, national origin, age, disability, limited English proficiency, economic status, or retaliation. If you believe your civil rights are being violated, call 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585(TTY/TDD).

You can receive weather alerts, safety tips and learn about disaster resources by downloading the free FEMA App, available for Apple, Android, and Blackberry mobile devices. Visit fema.gov/mobile-app for more information.

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 https://twitter.com/femaregion4 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.