Newton County Disaster Recovery Center to Operate as Disaster Loan Center; Harrison County Center to Close

AUSTIN, Texas – The disaster recovery centers in Harrison and Newton counties will close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, coinciding with the deadline to register for federal assistance for the March tornadoes and flooding.

However, the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin operating a Disaster Loan Outreach Center at the same building on Thursday, May 19 in Newton County.

The center is located at the Senior Citizen Center, 43435 State Highway 87 South, Orange, TX 77632. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center will not operate on Saturdays and Sundays and will close on Monday, May 30 in observance of Memorial Day.

At the Newton County Disaster Loan Outreach Center, SBA representatives will meet individually with residents and business owners affected by the March storms. Representatives answer questions, explain SBA’s disaster loan program, help complete loan applications and close approved disaster loans.

After the Harrison County recovery center closes May 18, residents whose homes or businesses were affected by the March 7-29 storms, tornadoes and flooding can get questions answered and update the status of their claims the following ways:

• online at DisasterAssistance.gov

• by calling 800-621-3362 (FEMA) or TTY 800-462-7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may also call 800-621-3362. Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY may call 800-462-7585. The toll-free numbers are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

Recovery officials encourage Texans who registered for disaster assistance to “stay

in touch” with FEMA. If survivors change their addresses or phone numbers they should update FEMA with the new information. Missing or erroneous information could result in delays in getting a home inspection or receiving assistance.

For more information on the Texas recovery, visit the disaster webpage for the March storms at fema.gov/disaster/4266; or visit the Texas Division of Emergency Management website at txdps.state.tx.us/dem. Follow us on Twitter @femaregion6.

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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.