Recovery News

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – State and federal assistance for those impacted by the Aug. 3-14 wildfire in Creek County has already reached more than $3 million according to Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Those figures include nearly $2.9 million in Housing Assistance and more than $207,000 in Other Needs Assistance to eligible residents.

This approved amount includes maximum grants of $31,400 each to 74 qualified applicants since the Aug. 22 presidential disaster declaration.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 28, nearly 370 individuals and families have registered with FEMA.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers disaster loans to repair, replace damaged real estate, personal property and business assets not covered by insurance or other aid.  For small businesses only, SBA offers disaster loans to cover working capital needs caused by the disaster.  Up to $200,000 is available to homeowners to repair, replace primary homes; up to $40,000 is available to homeowners and renters to repair/replace personal property; and, up to $2 million is available to businesses for physical and, or economic losses.

For information on SBA disaster loans, call 1-800-659-2955 (TTY 1-800-977-8339) or online at www.sba.gov.

To register for assistance or check on the status of an application, residents can either go online to www.disasterassistance.gov, use web-enabled phones at m.fema.gov or the FEMA app, or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. If you use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. FEMA phone lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week; multilingual operators are available.

For more information on Oklahoma disaster recovery, click on www.fema.gov/disaster/4078 or www.oem.ok.gov.

Follow OEM on Twitter and Facebook at www.twitter.com/okem and www.facebook.com/oklahomadepartmentofemergencymanagement. FEMA tweets about the Oklahoma disaster are at twitter.com/femaregion6. Additional FEMA online resources include blog.fema.gov, www.facebook.com/fema and www.youtube.com/fema.

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Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status.  If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) prepares for, responds to, recovers from and mitigates against emergencies and disasters. The department delivers service to Oklahoma cities, towns and counties through a network of more than 350 local emergency managers.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes, and private, non-profit organizations fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and covers the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.