Federal Disaster Aid to Local Governments Helping Rebuild Arkansas Communities

NORTH LITTL ROCK — Federal officials today estimated more than $6 million in disaster assistance will help fund local governments’ storm recovery from this spring’s severe weather.

That funding is in addition to nearly $2 million in federal disaster assistance to date that has helped individuals, families and businesses repair property and replace essential possessions.

When disaster strikes, the first response is to ensure personal and family safety and then address the loss of property and possessions. The federal Individual Assistance program responds to these urgent needs of individuals and business owners.

Public Assistance is another essential element of disaster response. The PA program benefits everyone – neighborhoods, cities and states, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations.

PA dollars:

• clean up the community and repair bridges
• put water systems and utilities back in order
• repair hospitals and emergency services
• rebuild libraries and replace damaged books
• rebuild schools and universities and
• restore damaged public parks so families can enjoy them again.

PA provides a minimum of 75 percent of the cost to repair or replace disaster-damaged infrastructure.

FEMA estimates the federal share of more than $1.8 million will help reimburse local governments for the emergency work and debris removal that took place in the storm’s immediate aftermath. Other PA projects are now being developed and approved by local, state, and federal officials. The estimated cost when complete is more than $4.1 million.

“Public Assistance grants support the work that helps an entire community recover,” said FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer Nancy M. Casper. “These are federal tax dollars coming back to Arkansas to rebuild taxpayer-funded infrastructure.”

Public Assistance grant recipients can include:

• state agencies
• local and county governments
• private nonprofit organizations that own or operate facilities that provide essential government-type services

Recovery officials are currently working with more than 65 applicants to develop specifications and costs for about 75 projects in the 28 counties eligible for disaster assistance.

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.

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.