The high cost of recovery from flooding and tornadoes

Assistance to Arkansas individuals, families, businesses and communities affected by spring's severe weather and flooding has hit - and surpassed - the $25 million milestone, Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials said Friday.

Nearly seven weeks after the May 2 disaster declaration, $25,689,833 in state, FEMA and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance is on its way to eligible Arkansans and Arkansas communities. The grants and loans are intended to help them recover from the storms, tornadoes and floods that tore through the state from April 14 to June 3.

"The severe spring weather stretching over a six-week period caused great hardship for many Arkansans, as well as our local communities," said State Coordinating Officer David Maxwell. "Getting money out to them as fast as we can helps their efforts to recover."

"We encourage all survivors to register with FEMA by the August 1 deadline," said Federal Coordinating Officer Nancy M. Casper. "We want to ensure all eligible Arkansans get the help they need to repair their homes or move to another safe place as soon as possible."

The state/federal assistance approved or obligated as of Friday is:
· Housing Assistance: $15,567,021
· Other Needs Assistance (ONA): $2,807,675
· Public Assistance: $638,437
· SBA low-interest disaster loans: $6,676,700

Nearly $18.4 million of the assistance dollars will reach some of the 9,200 individuals and families who have registered with FEMA for Individual Assistance. The $638,437 goes to the first applicants that have been approved for grants under FEMA's Public Assistance program, which helps reimburse the state and local communities for costs they incur in protecting the lives and property of Arkansans during the disaster, and cleaning up, repairing and rebuilding afterward.

Of the nearly $6.7 million in SBA loans approved, nearly $6.3 million will help Arkansas homeowners and renters. The rest has been loaned to small businesses and community-based nonprofit organizations.

Arkansans can check the status of their application or register at three FEMA portals: online at www.disasterassistance.gov, via web-enabled phone at m.fema.gov, or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. FEMA phone lines are open from 7 a.m. to midnight local time seven days a week, and multilingual operators are available.