Deadline for Winter Storm Fern assistance is Wednesday; MEMA shares updated figures
By Alex Rozier | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Wednesday is the deadline for those in Mississippi impacted by Winter Storm Fern to apply for funding through the federal government’s individual assistance program.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency previously posted locations for individuals to sign up for assistance on its website, but impacted residents can also reach out to their county’s emergency manager for information. Application information is also available on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website.
So far, 84,000 Mississippians have applied for assistance through the program, MEMA said in a press release Tuesday. FEMA’s Individual Assistance program is designed to provide grants directly to people affected by natural disasters. Those impacts could include damage done to a person’s property or belongings or costs incurred to deal with the disaster.
FEMA has distributed over $126 million to survivors of Fern, MEMA said. The counties with the highest number of individual assistance registrations are:
- DeSoto County – 5,228
- Panola County – 5,577
- Washington County – 5,373
FEMA has obligated more than $37 million in support for recovering local governments through its public assistance program. Roughly $223 million in additional public assistance project applications is moving through the FEMA review process, the release added.
In addition, state lawmakers approved a revolving loan program this past legislative session to help cities and counties recover as they await funding from FEMA. So far, the state has approved 29 loans totaling nearly $40 million, MEMA said.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
