| Midwest floods: disaster recovery resources and news
This page will be updated as new information becomes available: refresh your browser to ensure you are reading the latest version. Latest update: 24th June 2008 LATEST NEWS UPDATES
WEATHER FORECAST DISASTER DECLARATIONS
FEMA press release The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating the joint efforts of numerous federal agencies, state and local governments, non-profit organizations and the private sector as they continue to work together in response to ongoing flooding and the recovery efforts in the Midwest. FEMA and its partners are both continuing operations in response to flooding, and also working on recovery operations for those individuals and communities impacted from this recent disaster. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Where waters have already receded, FEMA disaster assistance workers are providing resources to individuals seeking assistance in the Midwest. In Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin, 46,314 registrations for assistance have been received from disaster victims and $82.3 million has been approved for housing assistance and other disaster-related needs. FEMA's Logistics Management Directorate will deploy a Logistics Fly Away Team to Des Moines, Iowa, to perform an analysis of the current logistics operations supporting the Midwest flooding; validate revised processes and concepts; and gather lessons learned in order to make the necessary adjustments geared toward hurricane support. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Individuals needing payment assistance on their existing USDA Rural Development Single and Multi-family loans are encouraged to contact USDA at (800) 414-1226. USDA approved operation of the Disaster Food Stamp Program in Indiana (37 counties), Iowa (36 counties), and Wisconsin (19 counties). As of June 19, over $1.6 million in these benefits and supplements have been provided to approximately 4,000 new and 1,500 ongoing households in the three states. The U.S. National Guard More than 4,150 National Guard members continue to support civil authorities throughout the Midwest. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) SBA has received 1,061 applications for disaster assistance loans. Applications and program information are available by calling 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired) or by e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Business disaster loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) USGS scientists continue to measure high water marks and operate stream gauges along the Mississippi to provide critical information regarding the flooding situation in the Midwest. USGS has a Midwest flood web page set-up that has all flood information in one location such as news releases, podcast interviews and imagery at: www.usgs.gov/homepage/science_features/flooding_june08.asp The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) DOL has established a toll-free number to answer questions on issues such as unemployment benefits, paycheck or wage issues, or safety questions: 1-866-4-USA-DOL. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) In Iowa, EPA established household hazardous waste collection centers at three sites: Bremer County (near Waterloo); Linn County (Cedar Rapids) and Johnson County (Iowa City). Similar operations are expected to begin today at the Johnson County, Iowa collection center. In addition, EPA plans to establish curbside pickup in Coralville, the City of Palo and Benton County. All 44 of the 500 Iowa chemical facilities regulated under EPA's Risk Management Program identified as being at risk of flooding have been initially assessed and cleared. In Indiana, EPA has completed oil and hazardous materials assessments in five flood-impacted counties. Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Nine states have responded to requests for assistance from the affected states. Providing support: Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, and North Carolina. The American Red Cross During the last 24 hours in the Midwest, the Red Cross reports:
The US Department of Labor has announces that it has set up a one-stop web tool offering a number of resources to assist those negatively impacted by the recent spate of floods in the Midwest. "We want to make information easily accessible and help quickly available to Americans affected by the devastating flooding in the Midwest," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "In addition to our toll-free telephone number, we've set up a Midwest Flood Recovery Assistance web page to guide affected residents on unemployment insurance, personal safety during cleanup operations and many other helpful resources for workers and employers." Displaced, evacuated and otherwise affected workers are encouraged to visit the department's Midwest Flood Recovery Assistance Web page, at www.dol.gov/opa/flood-recovery.htm. Useful information and Web site links will assist victims with questions about benefits, eligibility, the latest information on locations of an operating OneStop Career Center or career service center, links to FEMA for updates on federally-declared disaster counties by state, links to unemployment insurance information by state, paycheck and wage-related questions, technical assistance information from OSHA on personal safety issues involved in cleanup and recovery efforts, and helpful toll-free numbers. Workers can call the department's toll-free number at 866-4-USA-DOL (487-2365) to get the latest information on where to file a claim and access temporary job information. Impacted workers can place their calls from anywhere and will be directed to sites near them that can take their claims.
AIRS, the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems, has announced that it has activated its national Disaster Response Teams to assist in flood ravaged areas of the Midwest. At the present time more than 10 DRT members are on the ground working in Iowa and Indiana. The DRT is a national disaster response program developed jointly by AIRS and United Way of America. One report from a DRT member indicated that more than 1/3 of Iowa is underwater. One DRT went to work in Cedar Rapids and built an enhanced web-based capacity for the one stop regional wide website set up to aid in recovery efforts. Other work being undertaken by the DRTs include expanded information and referral services, coordinating volunteers, and training call center managers. AIRS indicated it would continue to respond to requests for assistance through its DRT network. Similar work was done by these DRTs in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the San Diego Wildfires. AIRS is a professional membership organization of over 1200 community information and referral organizations and in partnership with the United Way of America developed the 2-1-1 system which links services and people together. AIRS is also the credentialing authority of I&R programs and the driving force in the development of clear and consistent standards in I&R. Federal Response To Midwest Floods Continues, Shifts FEMA press release WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to coordinate the federal response to support states impacted by flooding in the Midwest. Below is an update of the support provided and the actions taken by FEMA and its federal partners as of June 18, 2008, in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri. * Joint Federal Activities: FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. General Services Administration and the Defense Logistics Agency have worked together to provide * Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) * State-led task forces have already been established in Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin and are meeting to review available housing options. * FEMA is leading a national task force that is meeting to coordinate federal support for any needed housing mission. * More than $22.2 million in assistance has been provided to eligible individuals. * FEMA has deployed more than 500 inspectors across Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin. * 5,716 inspections have been completed; * 22,825 inspections have been assigned. * Due to standing water, there are large pockets of inaccessible areas (approximately 46 percent of the inspection requests are in the Cedar Rapids area where residents are not currently accessible). * U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) * Of those, 33 home disaster loans were approved for $3,114,100. * One Economic Injury Disaster Loan was approved to a small business for $5,000. * U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) * One Disaster Area Response Team (DART) from Memphis, Tenn., currently based in Hannibal, Mo. * Two DARTs, from Louisville and Cincinnati, currently based in Quincy, Ill.. * Two DARTs, from St. Louis, and one small boat and crew each from the Coast Guard Cutters Scioto, Wyaconda and Sangamon, currently based in Burlington, Iowa. * Each DART consists of three flat bottom boats and seven Coast Guard crew. * The U.S. National Guard * More than 3,100 Iowa National Guard members are providing various security and recovery missions related to record flooding. * Nearly 700 Illinois National Guard members are conducting sandbagging and aerial support missions in multiple counties. * Nearly 500 Missouri National Guard members are performing sandbagging, levee monitoring and evacuation missions to prepare for an impending flood. * Nearly 200 Wisconsin National Guard members are providing transportation, communication, sandbagging and power generation support. * 30 Indiana National Guard members are supporting flood response operations. * The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) * U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) * The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) * The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) * NEG disaster grants create temporary disaster relief employment to work on projects that (1) provide food, clothing, shelter and other humanitarian assistance for disaster victims, and (2) help with the demolition, cleaning, repair, renovation and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed public structures, facilities and lands located within the declared disaster area. Agility Recovery Solutions Recovering Businesses in Iowa Three ‘disaster declares’ and 13 ‘alerts’ received by disaster recovery company. Agility Recovery Solutions, a provider of disaster recovery and business continuity solutions to companies throughout North America, is currently recovering key operations at businesses in Iowa. In addition, Agility is working with other businesses to determine recovery strategies. When an Agility member declares a disaster, Agility delivers any or all of the four key elements of recovery, including power, technology, space and connectivity resources. Agility is currently recovering three member-companies' operations in Iowa: In addition to the recoveries, Agility is working with 13 other Iowa businesses. These businesses are on ‘alert’ status, meaning they're experiencing a threat to their operations but have not yet initiated an Agility recovery. "We're monitoring disaster activity throughout North America and are ready to deploy resources to members in need," said Bob Boyd, Agility's president and CEO. "Our promise is to deliver within 48 hours. I'm happy to say we've cut that timeframe in half and have had our members up-and-running when they needed us most."
SBA press release Following the announcement of the Presidential disaster declaration in Wisconsin covering several counties as a result of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that began on June 5, and are continuing, Acting Administrator Jovita Carranza of the U.S. Small Business Administration issued the following statement: "We look forward to working with the people of Wisconsin to make low-interest federal disaster loans available to homeowners, renters and businesses," said Acting Administrator Carranza. "We will be swift in our efforts to help them rebuild their homes and businesses." The disaster declaration covers the Wisconsin counties of Columbia, Crawford, Milwaukee, Sauk and Vernon, all of which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses in the adjacent counties of Adams, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green Lake, Iowa, Juneau, LaCrosse, Marquette, Monroe, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Washington and Waukesha in Wisconsin and adjacent counties of Allamakee and Clayton in Iowa, and Houston in Minnesota are only eligible to apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Businesses of any size and private non-profit organizations may borrow up to $1.5 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to help with the cost of making improvements that protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future. For small businesses only, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loans assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage. Interest rates can be as low as 2.687 percent for homeowners and renters and 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based upon each applicant's financial condition. To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, victims must first call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Additional details on the location of Disaster Recovery Center(s) and the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or by emailing our customer service center at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is August 13, 2008. The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 13, 2009. For more information about the SBA's Disaster Loan Programs, visit our web site at http://www.sba.gov/
•Date: 19th June 2008• Region:US •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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