Residents of Scott, Mississippi and New Madrid counties will get a chance to apply for disaster assistance in person when a mobile recovery center begins operation today. The center, jointly operated by the federal and state emergency management agencies, will help people who suffered storm damage in early March, said Susie Stonner, spokeswoman for SEMA.

The mobile disaster recovery center will be set up in the lobby of the Family Life Center at the First United Methodist Church in Sikeston. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Wednesday but will be closed Sunday.

Residents of the three counties have until May 15 to apply for disaster assistance, Stonner said. Federal assistance in the form of low-interest loans and grants is available, she said.

Anyone seeking help can apply via telephone at (800) 621-3362 or by logging onto the Internet at www.fema.gov.

"People really need to call in if they haven't already," Stonner said.

March storm system

The applications cover damages suffered in the three counties between March 8 and March 13. The time period covered by the federal disaster declaration was lengthened based on information from the National Weather Service proving that severe storms during that period were all part of one big system that lingered over the area, Stonner said.

The disaster recovery center can "help anybody who called in and registered to find out where their application is or to reactivate their application," Stonner said.

The available loans and grants help bridge the gap between total damages and the amounts covered by insurance. Homeowners, renters, business and not-for-profit agencies that suffered property damage are eligible, as are business owners who suffered economic losses when the storms made conducting operations difficult or impossible.

Representatives of state, federal and voluntary agencies will be present at the disaster recovery center, including representatives of the Small Business Administration, which provides the disaster loans.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126