Ala. Katrina Aid Tops $350M

Federal and state assistance to Alabama in the wake of Hurricane Katrina topped $350 million Thursday as officials included the cost of 89 recovery missions launched by various agencies since the disaster declaration was issued by President Bush Aug. 29.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated $259.3 million to pay for a wide range of direct response missions supplying ice, water, meals, tarps and critical services such as search and rescue, medical teams, transportation, security, debris removal and translators for Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian residents.

Financial assistance to individuals and households now totals $90.7 million. Of this, $66.9 million has been disbursed to help hurricane victims with housing and $23.8 million was allocated to other essential needs of those who suffered losses in the storm. In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved residential loans totaling $2.4 million and business loans of $104,700.

More than 107,100 Alabama residents in the eleven disaster-declared counties have registered with FEMA for assistance by calling the toll-free number 800-621-FEMA (3362). The TTY number is 800-462-7585. Internet registration is available at the FEMA Web site www.fema.gov.

Other updated disaster numbers:

* The number of people in 11 current shelters is down to 153 from a high of 5,334.
* More than 30,600 applicants have received financial aid for housing needs and 22,807 have received assistance to replace lost or destroyed essential property, such as water heaters, that were uninsured.
* There are currently 525 FEMA staffers working in Alabama with 60 hired locally and 259 loaned from other agencies.
* Community Relations has 52 field specialists working directly with evacuees in shelters, hotels and interim housing facilities.
* Statewide, a total of 4,157 individuals displaced by Hurricane Katrina are currently residing in various forms of interim housing.
* More than 23,200 registrants for aid have visited Disaster Recovery Centers scattered about the state to get information about assistance programs and check their applications. There are now ten centers open where nearly 1,000 visitors a day receive help.
* The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has disbursed $9.5 million in initial flood damage claims. To date 4,133 policyholders have made Katrina-related flood claims.
* The Public Assistance program for restoring damaged infrastructure has obligated nearly $12 million to public and eligible nonprofit agencies in Alabama as reimbursement for debris removal, emergency protective measures and damage to public property.
* More than 2 million cubic yards of debris have been collected out of an estimated statewide total of 4 million cubic yards of storm-caused debris.
* Out of 83,568 inspections for housing damage issued, 95 percent are completed.