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Disaster Recovery Center opens in Benton |
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
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About 20 people sought assistance at the Disaster Recovery Center on Wednesday, the first day the center opened for Saline County residents affected by the April 3 severe storms that produced three tornadoes and flooding.  Marcela Deguia with the U.S. Small Business Administration assists Betty Nielson, seated, and Linnie Barnhart, whose home was destroyed when the April 3 tornado ripped through the Hurricane Lake Mobile Home Park off Arkansas 5 North in Benton. Nielson was helping her mother obtain the needed assistance at the Disaster Recovery Center, which opened Wednesday at the Family Life Center of Holland Chapel Baptist Church in Benton. (Courier photo by Jillian Duke)
Noting that the center wasn’t too busy Wednesday, DRC manager John Veach said today, “We’d rather be busy because that means we’re helping people.”
The center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday at the Family Life Center of Holland Chapel Baptist Church in Benton. It will remain open through Tuesday, May 27.The primary goal of the center is to offer assistance and provide disaster information to people who suffered damage from the severe storms. It was opened through a joint effort of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Business aside, Veach said, “We have to remember that this is probably the worst thing that has happened to them.”
Veach said people are encouraged to have already called 1-800-621 FEMA to report their damage before coming to the DRC. “If they have questions, then we can answer them; or if they encounter any difficulties, we can help,” he said.
However, he said, if some people don’t have access to a phone, they may come to the center to make the call.
Frustrations can run high in times of disaster, but Veach said he and others are there to “help smooth things out” — especially for people who called the toll-free number before Saline County was declared a disaster.
They may have received letters stating no assistance is available because the county hadn’t received the declaration, but that is not the case anymore, Veach said.
In addition to FEMA, representatives from the Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are at the DRC to assist people.
SBA disaster loans are the primary source of money to pay for repair or replacement costs not fully covered by insurance or other compensation. The program is not only for business owners, Roger Busch with SBA pointed out. Homeowners and renters may receive assistance, too, he said.
To begin the process, homeowners and renters first must register with FEMA. Homeowners and renters who receive a disaster loan application should complete and return it to SBA, even if they are not sure whether they’ll need or want a loan.
HUD is there to provide information on how the agency can provide temporary and permanent housing to those affected by the storms, HUD representative Virgie Anderson said. “We’re here to talk about our Section 8 tenant base and Section 8 voucher program. We also work with other agencies like the USDA rural development to send people to,” she said.
There are specific packets of information on the 203(k) Dream Maker Mortgage and the FHA Streamline(K) program for home repairs.
“We’re here to provide all that, and we’re here to just listen,” Anderson said.
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