FEMA registrants hit 4.4K; inspection set for 2.6K homes

Residents sit inside the Disaster Recovery Center at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Hall on Thursday waiting for FEMA to process registrations for financial assistance in the wake of Typhoon Soudelor. (Joel D. Pinaroc)

Registrants for individual federal assistance has reached 4,400 and 2,600 households validated for inspection.

Stephen DeBlasio, federal coordinating officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the figures are the latest as of Thursday.

DeBlasio said that FEMA will continue to encourage registrations for individual assistance.

He explained that as soon as an individual registers, this automatically generates an order for validation and inspection by a FEMA team. The FEMA team will gather all documents, and as soon as they gather these, funding will follow.

FEMA is also addressing concerns about isolated households or individuals that do not have telephones or any means of transportation by conducting visits.

He said teams from FEMA will visit isolated communities. However, DeBlasio said this will be on a “case-to-case” and “family-to-family” basis.

“Aside from these communities, we will continue to visit the shelters and coordinate with the American Red Cross on how to assist more people to register,” DeBlasio said.

He said there will be no need for registration for businesses wanting to avail of low interest loans from the Small Business Administration. The SBA is also housed at the DRC and is on standby to assist those wanting to apply for loans.

Day 2

DeBlasio said the DRC will continue to be open until it is no longer needed.

It was a busy, but an uneventful second day for the disaster recovery center at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe on Thursday, as the DRC continues to accommodate those still wanting to seek assistance.

Inside the facility are numerous telephone lines and several computer terminals that FEMA is letting visitors use to register on site.

On Thursday afternoon, visitors arrived in trickles and only about 70 people were inside, while a handful remained outside.

But the total number of visitors for the whole day is significant, according to Virginia Marquez, the DRC manager. She earlier said she is expecting the number of visitors to rise steadily, since the DRC opened on Wednesday.

The opening day of the DRC drew a few hundred residents, most of whom were seeking to register for federal assistance. It opened its doors Wednesday to accommodate typhoon survivors wanting to get supplemental information on financial assistance and small business loans.

Although FEMA emphasized that the DRC was not designed to accommodate registrations for FEMA assistance, many residents showed up anyway to register.

A handful of visitors who registered prior to the opening of the DRC were told to wait for inspectors to give them a call, Marquez said.

Survivors are encouraged to apply for assistance before going to the DRC by calling 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services can call 800-621-3362 to register. Online registration is also available at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

If survivors are unable to register prior to visiting the DRC, there will be a phone bank available for registration or helpline support.