Disaster Recovery Centers Open for Tornado Survivors in Forrest and Lamar Counties
PINE BELT, Miss. - The following is a press release.
Three disaster recovery centers are now open in Forrest and Lamar counties to provide assistance to survivors of the recent severe storms and tornadoes. Centers in Lauderdale and Perry counties will open soon.
Recovery centers are run jointly by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency; representatives from MEMA, FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration, and American Red Cross are set up in the center to explain available assistance programs and help connect survivors with appropriate resources to assist in their recovery.
The Forrest County centers are located at:
C. E. Roy Community Center
300 E. 5th Street
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
Petal Civic Center
712A South Main Street
Petal, MS 39465
The Lamar County center is located at:
Lamar County Safe Room
99 Central Industrial Row,
Purvis, MS 39475
Both centers in Forrest County are open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until further notice.
The center in Lamar County is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until further notice.
If possible, survivors with disaster-related losses are encouraged to register for assistance before going to a disaster recovery center by calling FEMA’s helpline at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Helpline hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Survivors can also register online at DisasterAssistance.gov.
Homeowners, renters and business owners can apply for low-interest disaster loans at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. SBA representatives are available at the disaster recovery centers to answer questions and help survivors complete their disaster loan applications.
Questions can also be answered by calling the SBA disaster customer service center at 800-659-2955 or (TTY) 800-877-8339 for the deaf or hard of hearing, or by visiting sba.gov/disaster.
For more information on Mississippi’s tornado recovery, go to fema.gov/disaster/4295 or visit the MEMA site at msema.org. Follow MEMA on Facebook facebook.com/msemaorg and on Twitter @msema.
