Saturday is the Last Day to Visit the Disaster Recovery Center in Noble

OKLAHOMA CITY – Cleveland County residents impacted by the Aug. 3-14 wildfire have until Saturday to take advantage of the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) at 15601 E. Etowah Road, Noble, OK 73068. The center is scheduled to close at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.

More than 180 residents have visited the DRC to speak with representatives from the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and others.

Visiting the center is not required to be considered for assistance. Homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and certain nonprofit organizations can register online at www.disasterassistance.gov, via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov, or by calling FEMA’s toll-free numbers: 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Anyone using 711 Relay or Video Relay Services can call the same number: 1-800-621-3362. Specialists are available by phone from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time seven days a week.

To date, more than 175 Cleveland County residents registered for assistance and nearly $1.5 million in disaster assistance has been approved.

SBA representatives are also available at the center and will assist applicants with filling out their loan applications. SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and private nonprofits for their uncompensated physical disaster losses (homes, personal property and business assets).  For small businesses and most private nonprofits, SBA disaster loans are available to cover working capital needs caused by the disaster, whether or not the business suffered physical damage.

It is important that anyone receiving an SBA disaster loan application complete and return it. Returning the application does not obligate you to accept an SBA loan; however, it is a necessary step to be considered for other additional forms of federal disaster assistance.

After registering with FEMA, homeowners, renters and businesses affected by the wildfire, can apply for an SBA disaster loan by going online to SBA’s secure site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela; calling 1-800-659-2955 or TTY 1-800-877-8339. For information on SBA disaster assistance, go to www.sba.gov.

For more information on Oklahoma disaster recovery, click on www.fema.gov/disaster/4078 or www.oem.ok.gov. Information can also be accessed via smartphone at m.fema.gov or the FEMA app.

Follow the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management on Twitter and Facebook at twitter.com/okem and www.facebook.com/oklahomadepartmentofemergencymanagement. FEMA tweets about the Oklahoma disaster are at twitter.com/femaregion6. Additional FEMA online resources include blog.fema.gov, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema.