New Hampshire Flooding Assistance Tops $3M

To date, state and federal disaster assistance has reached more than $3 million to help residents and business owners in New Hampshire recover from losses resulting from the severe storms and flooding in October.

Residents and business owners with flood-related losses should call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for speech- or hearing-impaired to register for state and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster assistance. Lines are open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. Registration can also be done online at www.fema.gov.

The following is a brief snapshot of disaster recovery efforts as of today:

* 708 applicants from the nine declared counties have called FEMA to apply for state and federal aid.
* 70 percent of these applicants have been approved for grants available through the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) totaling $937,000
– IHP grants for Housing Assistance totaling $767,000 were provided to 347 eligible households to help with temporary housing and essential home repairs.
– IHP grants for Other Needs Assistance to help meet serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance or other programs total $170,000 Serious needs include personal property replacement, along with moving and storage, transportation and other necessary expenses.
* The State of New Hampshire and FEMA opened two Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) to provide opportunities for flood-affected residents to meet face-to-face with disaster recovery officials. The last DRC closed Nov. 22. In all, the two DRCs handled 388 visitors while open. The main issues were questions about entitlements and flood insurance.
* FEMA has obligated $1.8 million to the state of New Hampshire under the Public Assistance (PA) program to reimburse local governments, state agencies and certain non-profits for eligible, disaster-related costs and losses. Among those costs are debris removal, emergency protective measures and repair or restoration of disaster-damaged public infrastructure. FEMA provides 75 percent of eligible costs. The non-federal share is made up from other sources. The state administers the PA program.
* The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued 686 low-interest disaster loan applications: 534 are for low-interest home repair/personal property loans to homeowners and renters, along with 152 business loan applications.
* The Emergency Watershed Protection Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, has allocated and obligated $368,000 for stream bank stabilization and protection along parts of the Ash Swamp Brook, Cold River, Warren Brook, Bower Brook and Gowen/Thayer Brook.

“Those affected have until December 27, 2005, to resister for state and federal disaster assistance,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Peter Martinasco of FEMA. “We will continue to reach out to every homeowner, renter and business with uninsured and underinsured costs to help them recover from the flooding.”

State Coordinating Officer Mike Poirier of the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management (BEM), said that recovery specialists are making every effort to ensure that area residents with flood-related damages apply for aid.