Gov. Blunt Requests President
to Authorize Additional 23 Counties for Federal Assistance
JEFFERSON CITY March 17, 2006-Based upon ongoing SEMA/FEMA
joint damage assessments today Gov. Matt Blunt will ask President
Bush to consider adding 23 more Missouri counties to the federal disaster
declaration for individual assistance.
Blunt is asking the president to add the following counties:
Bates, Benton, Carroll, Cass, Chariton, Howard, Iron, Jefferson, Lawrence,
Lincoln, Marion, Mississippi, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Putnam,
St. Clair, Scott, Stone, Taney, Vernon, Webster and Wright to the
Individual Assistance Declaration.
If the president approves Blunt’s request, the
individual assistance declaration would help renters, homeowners and
businesses apply for federal assistance to recover from the recent
severe storms that swept across Missouri. Assistance would come in
the form of low-interest loans or provide disaster grants or to families
and individuals with uninsured or underinsured losses for personal
property.
Counties designated for Individual Assistance include
the following: Christian, Hickory, Johnson, Monroe, Perry, Pettis,
Randolph, Ste. Genevieve, and Saline. Residents and business owners
with uninsured or underinsured storm-related damages in those locations
should register with FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).
Counties designated for public assistance for debris
removal and emergency protective actions the following: Bates, Christian,
Howard, Jefferson, Monroe, Montgomery, and Washington.
Ten people died and 100 were injured during the storms
this past weekend. Joint SEMA/FEMA/SBA and local government damage
assessment teams have identified 388 destroyed structures and 905
damaged structures in the 42 counties where assessments have either
been completed or are in progress. The ten teams will continue to
collect information from impacted counties this weekend.
As of Friday, SEMA has received 104 calls from special
needs citizen for assistance, 44 donations offers, and 29 offers to
volunteer through the Tornado Disaster Assistance Hotline 866-254-0140.
The hotline is open seven days a week between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.