Jo Ann Emerson - Missouri's 8th Congressional District
Saturday, April 5, 2008
 
Weekly Column
 
EMERSON RADIO ADDRESS: Following the Flood

***Note to radio producers – please note there are several phone numbers in this week’s column and make them available to your listeners again!***

“Ordinarily I use this space to address timely issues in the Eighth Congressional District.  This week, nothing could be more timely than the flooding which has affected every county in Southern Missouri.

I want to commend everyone who has responded to this disaster in either an official or a volunteer capacity.  Local and state authorities have been right by the side of Missourians who have experienced losses large and small from the disaster we experienced in the last week of March and which, for many, is still ongoing.  Out-of-state resources are coming into Missouri, too, and I want to be sure everyone who needs federal aid knows how to take advantage of the individual assistance programs that have been made available to victims of the flooding. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prescribes the following process to become eligible for Individual Assistance – programs to help private citizens recover and rebuild after the devastating flooding in our region.

First, make a call to FEMA at 1-800-462-7585 or visit them online at www.fema.gov.  There, you may register with FEMA and obtain a nine-digit personal identification number that the agency will use to identify your claim throughout the process.  Shortly after establishing contact with FEMA, a person from the agency should schedule an on-site visit to determine the extent of the damage.  At that point, the representative from FEMA should be able to provide a paper assessment of which assistance programs you are eligible to claim.

 
As always, my Missouri official congressional offices are available to assist anyone who needs help dealing with or getting the attention of the folks at FEMA.

This federal program exists solely to lend a helping hand to families that have suffered losses from the floods declared an emergency by the governor and the president.  Other programs are in place to provide grant assistance to local and state governments which have expended resources to respond to the disaster.  Still more assistance is in place to help small business owners through the U.S. Small Business Administration.  For more information on either of these programs, please contact one of my congressional offices [Cape Girardeau: (573) 335-0101; Farmington: (573) 756-9755; Rolla: (573) 364-2455] or call the FEMA hotline.

Recovering from this disaster is going to require all of us to work together.  There may, in fact, be times in which a little patience in dealing with federal agencies is called for.  Still, I expect a swift and courteous response from the employees at FEMA who are working in Missouri to give victims and their families the peace of mind to begin the rebuilding process.

I have seen the widespread devastation of the flooding across our state, both from the air and from the ground.  In some areas, the flooding is the worst we have ever seen.  This is no small matter for the Missourians who still have water in their homes, or worse.

But as appalling as the pictures of the flooding have been, the images of neighbors helping neighbors and communities pulling together in the face of adversity have been even more restorative.  Whether it is their job to do so or not, people from all over our state have made an extraordinary effort to help their fellow citizens in a time of need and, for some, peril.  I want to use this space this week for one other purpose, and that is to thank all of them for everything they have done to help right the lives of everyone in Missouri who has had theirs turned upside-down by the floods of 2008.  Thank you, and God bless.”

 

 These are the addresses of the various Emerson offices

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