Gibson, Posey OK’D for Federal Flood Aid Disaster Assistance Centers to Open Today in Knox County, Nashville, Ind.
By BRYAN CORBIN, Courier & Press Statehouse bureau (317) 631-7405 or corbinb@courierpress.com
Two more disaster-assistance centers are scheduled to open today, including one in Knox County, for victims of last week’s flooding.
President Bush also has approved Gibson and Posey counties for individual federal aid assistance, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced Tuesday.
Staffed by officials from state and federal agencies, the Knox County center will open at 9 a.m. today at the 4-H Exhibit Hall of the county fairgrounds, 11728 State Road 67 East in Bicknell, Ind. After today, the center will serve flood victims on weekdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will be closed Sundays, the governor’s office said.
State government, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross previously have opened six other disaster assistance centers in Indiana – at Martinsville, Columbus, Terre Haute, Franklin, Indianapolis and Spencer, where flood victims can get multiple issues addressed at one time. Another center is opening today in Nashville, Ind.
The president now has approved 30 Indiana counties for individual federal assistance. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to assist individuals and businesses hard- hit by disasters.
Although Gibson and Posey counties were not among the initial group of counties declared disaster areas by Daniels, they were added because the state now has met the FEMA threshold for damage from severe weather between May 30 and June 7, the governor’s office said.
Eleven inches of rain that fell on central Indiana on June 6-7 swelled into a massive flood that drained into the Wabash and White rivers, breaking some local records and prompting sandbagging of riverside communities such as Elnora, Ind., and Hazleton, Ind., by the Indiana National Guard.
Flood victims do not have to visit one of the disaster centers to apply for FEMA benefits. They can do so by calling toll free (800) 621-FEMA. Applications also can be obtained online at www.fema.gov/ or at the state’s Web site, www.emergency.in.gov.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture report? has estimated 9 percent of corn, 9 percent of soybeans and 5 percent of winter wheat crops have been flooded in Indiana. Farmers needing agricultural relief can visit the state agriculture department Web site at www.in.gov/portal/news_events/23850.htm.
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