Jackson Free Press

JACKSON - Gov. Haley Barbour announced today that residents in 18 counties affected by the severe storms, flooding and tornadoes April 15-April 28 are now eligible for federal disaster assistance.


Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate added the 18 counties to the federal disaster declaration, bringing the total number of counties eligible for individual assistance to 29.

"This declaration will allow residents in these counties to access much needed federal assistance to begin rebuilding their lives," Gov. Barbour said. 

The new counties declared include: Alcorn, Attala, Clay, Coahoma,DeSoto, Grenada, Holmes, Leflore, Marshall, Montgomery, Newton, Panola, Quitman, Smith, Sunflower, Tishomingo, Tunica and Winston. Counties already declared include: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Greene,
Hinds, Jasper, Kemper, Lafayette, Monroe, Neshoba and Webster.

Residents in these counties may register with FEMA for assistance onlineat http://www.disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)or 1-800-462-7585(TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven
days a week until further notice. Individual assistance includes grants to help pay for rental housing,
home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs.
For more information call MEMA's Public Information Line at
866-519-MEMA.

Previous Comments

ID

163432

Comment

Let's hope that Governor Barbour's division of FEMA doesn't repeat history and allow anyone to die this time because of FEMA agents getting involved in community problems. Hurricane Katrina opened up the gates of hate when an agent(s) who was a part of the very same community participated in removing a homeowner's name from a disaster application and then falsified federal documents in an effort to cover it up.They got caught because they removed names of federal officials who witnessed the conspiracy unfold. While that case still waits to be heard in a federal court, loopholes within FEMA allow for similar discrimination to happen again against another innocent citizen. An end-stage Alzheimer's patient ended up dying with no services ever rendered to her under the disaster proclamation. It's very important for applicants to keep all of their paperwork associated with their claims and be informed about timelines designed to disqualify them after the state takes control. Every community has people in it that the community members don't approve of for one reason or another. Those are the ones most at risk to be either blocked or ignored by MS-FEMA.

Author

DeGuyz

Date

2011-05-10T09:49:10-06:00

ID

163466

Comment

Let's hope for a fair process this time around, especially as it relates to clean-up contracts that will be awarded. Barbour seemingly used any consciousness when it came to taking care of his kin folks. Sad but true. This also speaks to our need for Federal financial Gov. interventions; yet, this is the same Governor who did not want stimilus dollars, sent money back and was initiating a national campaign on Tea Party Bull Crap.

Author

justjess

Date

2011-05-10T16:50:58-06:00