Disaster Relief Information

In case of a disaster, please use this page as a resource to be prepared and apply for assistance.  The links below are to state and federal agencies that work with disaster relief.  Also below is a county by county chart of important phone numbers should you need assistance during or after a disaster. 

Drought Announcement - August 1, 2012

The Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared natural disaster areas due to losses caused by extreme drought.

All 18 counties in Indiana's 8th Congressional District have been designated as primary counties:  Clay, Daviess, Fountain, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren, and Warrick. 

On Monday, July 23, 2012, the Secretary of Agriculture used existing authority to help create and encourage flexibility within four USDA programs: the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and the Federal Crop Insurance Program. 

• Allowing additional acres under CRP to be used for haying or grazing under emergency conditions
• Allowing farmers and ranchers to modify current EQIP contracts to allow for prescribed grazing, livestock watering facilities, water conservation and other conservation activities to address drought conditions
• Allowing haying and grazing of WRP easement areas in drought-affected areas where such haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands
• Encouraging crop insurance companies to voluntarily forego charging interest on unpaid crop insurance premiums for an extra 30 days, to November 1, 2012, for spring crops

For more information, please visit www.usda.gov/drought.

For more general information on the types of assistance available, please visit the USDA’s Farm Service Agency Disaster Preparedness information at:  http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing

Those who would like to apply for assistance must contact their county FSA office as there is no online application process.  All contact information for Indiana may be obtained here:  http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=in&agency=fsa
 

Severe Weather from Spring 2012

From the U.S. Small Business Administration:

The disaster declaration covers the Indiana counties of Clark, Jefferson, Ripley, Scott, Warrick, and Washington which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA.  Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Harrison, Jackson, Jennings, Lawrence, Ohio, Orange, Pike, Spencer, Switzerland and Vanderburgh in the State of Indiana; and contiguous counties of Carroll, Daviess, Henderson, Jefferson, Oldham and Trimble in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate.  Homeowners and renters are eligible up to $40,000 to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed personal property.

Businesses and private non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.  The SBA may increase a loan up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage to real estate and/or leasehold improvements, as verified by SBA, to make improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.  Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

Interest rates are as low as 1.875 percent for homeowners and renters, 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years.  Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at 800-621-FEMA (3362), TTY 800-462-7585 for people with speech or hearing disabilities. Additional details on the locations of Disaster Recovery Centers and the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at
800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for people with speech or hearing disabilities) or by sending an
e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  

Those affected by this disaster may fill out a loan application online by visiting SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is May 8, 2012.
The deadline to return economic injury applications is December 10, 2012.      

From FEMA:

Homeowners, renters and business people in six Indiana counties can sign up for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) online and on the phone.

Status reports and questions also can be answered over the phone.

Residents of Clark, Jefferson, Ripley, Scott, Warrick and Washington counties who sustained losses can begin applying for assistance now by registering online at www.fema.gov/assistance or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers are available from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week.

Preparing Makes Sense: Ready.gov

3-step process for disaster assistance from FEMA

Indiana Department of Homeland Security

City of Evansville-Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency

Vigo County Emergency Management Agency

National Weather Service

If we can be of any assistance, please contact one of my offices.