Disaster Recovery Centers Open For East Baton Rouge, Tangipahoa and West Feliciana Parish Flood Victims

Starting today, Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) will open in the following parishes: East Baton Rouge, Amite in Tangipahoa Parish, and St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish. The  DRCs are being put in place to make it easier for flood victims in the areas to get the assistance they need. The centers will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday until further notice.

All disaster recovery centers are accessible and equipped with disability-related communication aids. To arrange to have an ASL interpreter when you visit, call (225) 382-1739.  For further details and info log onto fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers. Below is a list of some of those locations:

New Hope Baptist Church
5856 Greenwell Springs Rd.
Baton Rouge, La. 70806

Amite City Office Complex
721 S. First St.
Amite, La. 70422

Independence Community Center
10494 State Highway 965
St. Francisville, La. 70775

If the above locations are not in your area, you can locate a center near you here. It's important to know that flood victims can also apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov. If you need to speak to someone or have a particular question, use the 711 or Video Relay Service by calling the FEMA helpline at (800) 621-3362. Phone lines are open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Disaster victims who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and use a TTY system may call 800-462-7585 to apply. Help is available in most languages.

Most DRCs will be prepared to handle just about every situation, and will have a variety of volunteer groups and agencies on-hand to assist flood victims, such as representatives from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and FEMA. Agents from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SAB) will be available, offering low-interest disaster loans for homeowners, renters, businesses, landlords and private nonprofit organizations. A disaster loan covers losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries.

For more information about loans, applicants may contact the SAB Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, send an email to DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov, or visit their website at sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.