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FEMA and SBA

Federal Office of Emergency Management (FEMA)
and Small Business Administration (SBA)

January 9, 2009

Three disaster loan outreach centers to reopen

Release Date: January 9, 2009
Release Number: 1810-038

»More Information on California Wildfires

PASADENA, Calif. - Three Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs) operated by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will reopen Monday afternoon, January 12, 2009, at their pre-holiday locations in Anaheim, Santa Barbara and Sylmar.

A representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also will be at each DLOC, which reopens at 1:00 p.m. Monday and then will be open weekdays and closed on weekends until further notice. However all will be closed Monday, January 19, 2009, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Help filing an SBA application, registering with FEMA for federal and state assistance and followup assistance is available at each DLOC for anyone in the four-county disaster area - Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties.

The SBA provides low-interest home disaster loans to qualified homeowners and renters. Depending on loss, amounts can range up to $200,000 for homes and $40,000 for contents. (Renters are eligible only for content loss loans.) Businesses and many private non-profit organizations are eligible for up to $2 million in business physical disaster loans.

Economic injury disaster loans also are available to businesses and private non-profits to meet ordinary and necessary financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of the disaster.

SBA application deadlines are January 21, 2009, for home and business disaster loans, and August 18, 2009, for economic injury disaster loans.

DLOC locations and hours are:

Anaheim - East Anaheim Community Center, 8201 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim, CA 92808. Normal hours are weekdays only, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu Street., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Normal hours are weekdays only, 8:30 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sylmar - Sylmar Recreation Center, Susan B. Anthony Room, 13109 Borden Avenue, Sylmar, CA 91342. Normal hours are weekdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Friday, 09-Jan-2009 14:14:12

Federal, State wildfire assistance tops $13.6 million

Release Date: January 2, 2009
Release Number: 1810-036

»More Information on CaliforniaWildfires

PASADENA, Calif. -- Federal and state assistance topped $13.6 million in 2008 for residents who suffered in the November wildfires in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties.

Assistance is available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because of the presidential major disaster declaration. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) and the California Department of Social Services also are providing assistance.

"The assistance total will be climbing daily with the new year as more people register with FEMA and more applications are processesed," said Mark Neveau, federal coordinating officer. "By design, most of the money to help people recover is in the form of SBA low-interest disaster assistance loans to homeowners, renters and businesses."

As of the end of 2008, SBA had approved 84 loans for a total of $11,366,800.

FEMA grants are much more limited in scope, but do not have to be repaid like SBA loans. Also, they are not taxed as income nor do they affect Social Security benefits. So far, FEMA has approved $2,285,103 for 352 households.

For people who still have unmet needs after receiving the maximum FEMA grant ($30,300), a referral will be made to the California Department of Social Services for consideration of the State Supplemental Grant Program (SSGP), where up to an additional $10,00 grant may be available.

"California's supplemental grant program has provided $130,000 to 13 households as of the year end," said Tom Maruyama, deputy state coordinating officer.

So far, 2,251 persons have registered with FEMA for assistance, which automatically registers them with Cal EMA. Many are insured and not immediately eligible for FEMA assistance until after they have completed settlement with their insuror. If at that point they have uninsured losses, they can ask FEMA to reconsider their application.

To be considered for FEMA assistance, including uninsured losses, persons must be registered with FEMA before the registration deadline for this disaster, January 20. They can register at FEMA's toll-free line, 1-800-621-3362 (FEMA), TTY 1-800-621-7585. Online registration and application status also is available at the new federal disaster registration website, www.disasterassistance.gov. That comprehensive multi-agency site also can be reached through its link at www.fema.gov.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Monday, 05-Jan-2009 08:12:56