Full Notification

Disaster Assistance Made Available In Five Additional New Jersey Counties



Federal disaster assistance is being made available to five additional New Jersey counties that suffered damages during the severe storms and flooding of March 12 through April 15.

They join the list of 12 counties that are receiving assistance as a result of a presidential disaster declaration signed April 2.

The five counties were added to the disaster declaration following new damage assessments requested by the state, and conducted last week by local officials, representatives of the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, and FEMA.

Residents of three counties – Burlington, Cumberland and Ocean – are now eligible for Individual Assistance, which is made available to homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes, announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Public Assistance – which is aid to state and local governments, schools, and certain private nonprofits -- is now available in Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, and Ocean counties.

“Residents who may be eligible for individual assistance grants should register with FEMA as soon as possible,” said William F. Vogel, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer in New Jersey. The deadline to register is June 1, 2010.

To register for assistance, flood survivors should call FEMA’s toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY/TDD 1-800-462-7585 for people with speech and hearing disabilities (for relay service, call 711 or 1-800-852-7897) between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m., seven days a week. Multi-lingual operators are available to answer calls during this time. Residents may also register online anytime at http://www.disasterassistance.gov/.

To speed assistance, individuals should be ready to provide:

Their current phone number.
Their address at the time of the disaster and the address where they are now staying.
Their Social Security number, if available.
A general list of damages and losses they suffered.
If insured, their insurance policy number, or the agent's and company name.
Individual assistance may include grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs. Low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) also will be available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance.

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FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders and 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 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will open Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) in Burlington, Cumberland and Ocean counties at noon on Friday, May 14 to assist individuals, households and businesses affected by the storms and flooding of mid-March.

The locations of the three new DRCs are as follows:

Burlington County
Volunteer Fire Company Building
106 Broad Street
Hainesport Twp., NJ 08036

Cumberland County
EOC/Public Safety Building
637 Bridgeton Avenue
Bridgeton, NJ 08302

Ocean County
Brick Township Civic Center
270 Chambersbridge Road, Suite 11
Brick, NJ 08723

After opening at noon on Friday, each DRC will be open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday until further notice. Closed Sundays.
With the opening of these DRCs, FEMA will have DRCs operating in 12 flood-stricken, federally declared New Jersey counties.

Each DRC is staffed with FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration and state agency disaster recovery specialists who are ready to help flood survivors through the recovery process. Survivors are encouraged to register with FEMA before visiting a center.

Flood survivors should call FEMA's toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY/TDD 1-800-462-7585 for people with speech and hearing disabilities (for relay service, call 711 or 1-800-852-7897) between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m., seven days a week. Multi-lingual operators are available to answer calls during this time. Residents may also register online anytime at http://www.disasterassistance.gov/.

At the Disaster Recovery Center, visitors can:

Receive information about different types of state and federal disaster assistance.
Get help completing low-interest loan applications from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for homeowners, renters and business owners.
Inquire about the status of applications for federal assistance.
May receive referrals to voluntary organizations to help with immediate unmet needs.
Learn cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce the impact of future disaster losses.
HOURS AND LOCATIONS OF ALL DRCs

Until further notice, daily hours at each DRC are from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The DRCs are closed Sundays.