Lyon County residents with flood-damaged property can now apply to FEMA for help.
Rick Frevert, Lyon County’s emergency management coordinator, announced Tuesday that the county had qualified for individual assistance. That means home and business owners and other private individuals can call the Federal Emergency Management Agency about damage from the May 5 through May 7 flooding. The telephone number is 1-800-621-3362.
After a person calls and registers their case with FEMA, a representative will contact them to review the case.
“People need to document any expenses, including their time, associated with water damage,” Frevert said. “Have an itemized list of objects damaged, destroyed or lost because of flood water.”
That can include any flood-related damage, he said, such as cars parked on the street or a basement that was damaged to a sump pump failure or power outage. Applications for hail damage from last February will not be taken.
No deadline has been given for applications, but Frevert recommended calling in as soon as possible.
“At some point, this will be closed out,” he said. “And it helps the efficiency of the response if the team has a full list to do when it comes to town, rather than come today for one person and tomorrow for one person.”
Frevert was told Friday by Rep. Jerry Moran that the county’s residents were eligible to apply. A FEMA team arrived in the area Tuesday.
Public agencies such as the city and county government cannot yet apply for aid.
‘We had enough damage to qualify, but the county has not been declared a disaster area on the public side,” Frevert said.
Information can also be found at www.fema.gov. Those with hearing or speech difficulties can call 1-800-462-7585.
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Posted by daveedailey (anonymous) on May 29, 2007 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Where are these FEMA people? What houses did they visit?How can you get aid from FEMA if you have flood insurance? What a joke. All the flood insurance that I have checked into, if you have a basement, all that is covered is your furnace and hot water tank. Is FEMA picking up where the insurance leaves off? We have had floods much worse than this and no one ever helped before. FEMA is one of the governments worst systems. If you notice, you have to contact them. I thought they were visiting people and houses. What happen to that? Where did they stay and are we picking up the tab for them?
Posted by daveedailey (anonymous) on May 30, 2007 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Really strange, must be talking to myself. No answers???
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on May 30, 2007 at 5:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There was some more info on 580WIBW this afternoon from 12-3pm.The guy they interviewed in the studio filed his flood damage with FEMA online - but his home was in Topeka.He's a friend of the talkshow hosts,so they used him as an example to see how the fed responds.He said you had to document structural damage,ruined items,cleanup costs,your time,and give your name,bank acc #,routing #,etc.Sounded like a direct deposit deal.He said it only took a few minutes.I bet they follow up to see how long it takes and what he's helped with.Not sure the fed is allowed to say who they're talking to and where they live-probably just the general area is all they can release.
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