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FEMA Centers Paring Back Hours: Islamorada Site Closes but Three Remain Open

Posted on: Monday, 2 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Alyson Matley, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon

Dec. 31--If you haven't filed for emergency aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency due to hurricane damage, you have until Thursday to do so.

“If you haven't registered with FEMA and it's because you're not sure if you're eligible, do so," FEMA spokesman Brian Gibbons said. “Because that's the only way you're going to find out."

Jan. 5 is the deadline to apply for aid for damage from Hurricane Wilma. It is also the last day to apply for loan assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Things are quieting down on the disaster assistance front, but that doesn't mean aid teams are picking up stakes and going home.

Three of four disaster recovery centers in the Keys remain operating and will continue to do so as long as there is a need, Gibbon said. Though the centers will remain, they have shortened their hours and will be closed weekends beginning today.

Beginning Tuesday, the centers will operate from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. They are at 604 Simonton St. in Key West; Florida Keys Marathon Airport terminal; and the Big Pine Key Habitat for Humanity Home Center.

A fourth center in Islamorada closed just before Christmas.

Through this week, 15,638 Monroe County applications for FEMA aid have poured in, many through the centers, Gibbons said. He encouraged anyone with questions to go to one of the centers where knowledgeable staff, many of them volunteers from all over the country, can help.

“I saw a man in Dania who was appealing the amount he received," Gibbons said. “He came in with pictures and just felt better being able to talk with people about his concerns."

The centers are a great place to get answers if you don't agree with or fully understand the initial letters FEMA may have sent out.

“Many times a denial is because there is lack of information on an individual case," said Gibbons.

Gibbons said there is no clear indication of how long the centers will remain open.

“The centers themselves are subject to change depending on traffic and other variables," he said. “So in this situation, it's probably better to act on your own impulses. And even if you just want reassurance, the [recovery centers have] become [people's] barber shop; they come to just chat and catch up."

Help is also available on line at www.fema.gov or at (800) 621-3362.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon, Fla.

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