ONE MONTH TO REGISTER FOR FEMA ASSISTANCE

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana residents and business owners in the 54 disaster-declared parishes who sustained damage during the recent hurricanes have only one month to apply for disaster assistance. Jan. 11, 2006 is the last day applications will be accepted for Individual Assistance. Loan applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for disaster-related losses to real and personal property must also be submitted by that date.

“We want people to understand that this deadline is for new disaster applications,” said Scott Wells, federal coordinating officer. “For individuals who have already applied, their cases will continue to be processed. New applications will not be accepted after the Jan. 11 deadline.”

Federal and state disaster recovery officials urge those who have not done so to apply as soon as possible by calling the toll-free application number at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). The special number for those with hearing or speech impairment is TTY 1-800-462-7585. Individuals may also register for disaster assistance at the FEMA Web site www.fema.gov.

To date, nearly 1.5 million individuals have applied for disaster assistance in the state. More than 3.6 billion in disaster funds has been approved for individuals impacted by the disaster including more than $670 billion in disaster loans from SBA.