Starting Tuesday, representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) will be on site at the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas to assist residents affected by the storms.FEMA representative Keith Jones and SBA representative Claudia Anderson were on the morning show on KTLO 97.9 Tuesday morning to share information about the Disaster Response Center.
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Jones shares what documents resident will need to bring to apply for assistance. He also says FEMA will work to get residents the maximum benefits they can.
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Once an application is complete, Jones says the turnaround is fairly quick.
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Anderson says the SBA is known to help businesses, but in times of disaster they offer opportunities for homeowners, renters, nonprofits and businesses.
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Anderson says there are no penalties for paying off the loan early.
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Representatives will be available at the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas Monday through Friday from 8 until 6 and at the Marion County Fairgrounds seven days a week from 8 until 6. Representatives say these disaster centers will be open for at least the next 30 days.
To hear this interview in its entirety, visit this story at ktlo.com
FULL INTERVIEW
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
Kim Szecsi: We’ve got some special guests in the studio along with Heather Loftus, and she’s got some questions for Claudia Anderson, public information officer for the Small Business Administration of the United States, and Keith Jones, who’s with FEMA, and they’ve been in and around the area for a while. Heather, I’m going to go ahead and turn it over to you.
Heather Loftis: Yeah, Keith was with us yesterday morning and discuss some information, but we have new information for everyone this morning. And that’s why Claudia is here as well. Good morning. Thank y’all for coming by.
Claudia Anderson: Good morning.
Keith Jones: Good morning.
Loftis: Keith, tell us about the important information that the Baxter County residents need to know.
Jones: Well, uh, yesterday I said we were looking to open up something here in Mountain Home this week, and I can say we’re opening up at the food bank on Highland Court today. It’s open from eight to six, Monday through Saturday. We will have FEMA representatives. Small business administration representatives there to give you one on one help to get you to get your applications in To help get you the resources you need for the residents filling out those applications Tell us what they need to bring with them so you can help them So what’s best ring with you if you have insurance you should have it Putting for your insurance claim, your claim number is important, uh, because we actually work to make sure that if you’re underinsured or uninsured, that you get, uh, the maximum benefits you can. A lso a valid state ID or, or passport, um, as well as proof of ownership or renting, uh, a lease, uh, a mortgage or even tax records, uh, property tax records are, are good enough what we call heirship. That’s now a Zeppelin that’s H E I R ship. It means if your parents left you the land, but it didn’t come with a will, didn’t come into deed. If you’re paying the property taxes, you can show that, you know, you’re occupying that land and paying taxes on that land. That is your property. Uh, Any way that you can prove that or your rent and especially these days it’s kind of great if you’re using an email most of this stuff’s emailed to you so even if you lost the paperwork uh you’ll still have that those emails and those pdfs they can print up for you there and get them in your records.
Loftis: I was going to say so many people lost those documents in the storm FEMA of course is all too familiar with that if someone doesn’t have that information what do they do?
Jones: Uh the best thing to do is go to your county tax assessor’s office uh if you go to your county office’s Most of the deeds, most of the property management, uh, portions are filed there, uh, in the county buildings as well as your tax records.
Loftis: How quickly can individuals expect a relief from FEMA?
Jones: So that really depends on when you get everything taken care of. So if you show up with all your documents and you answer the phone the first time when an inspector calls to come out and check out everything.
Loftis: From an unknown number.
Jones: From an unknown number or a number you don’t recognize, uh. You know, once that entire process is complete, it takes a couple business days, anywhere from two to five business days for you to see it in your account. If you’re getting a check, it’ll, you know, you get the check in the mail in like a week.
Loftis: I was going to say it’s a direct deposit.
Jones: That’s the easiest way to make it happen.
Loftis: Claudia, tell us about the work of the Small Business Administration and how you’re helping the residents of Baxter County.
Anderson: Yeah. So, um, The Small Business Administration is typically known to help businesses, but in times of disasters, we actually have opportunities for homeowners, renters, non profits, and businesses. And we can offer up to 500, 000 to homeowners at a 2.688 percent interest rate for any property damage they’ve sustained in their homes and their primary residence. And this is for underinsured. or uninsured homeowners, and then for homeowners and renters, their personal property damage up to 100, 000, um, at that 2.688 percent interest rate. For businesses, 2 million at a 4 percent interest rate. For nonprofits, 2 million at a 3.25 percent interest rate. And there’s no interest accrued for that first year. There’s no, um, payment required for the first year and there are no prepayment penalties at all. Um, if you happen to find funds and be able to pay off that, um, debt sooner, you, you can do that without any kind of, uh, penalty. And they’re no cost to apply. And they’re all at the, Disaster recovery centers. There are SBA customer service representatives there to help you one on one to get through that process of applying.
Loftis: I must admit, I had no idea that the SBA worked directly with FEMA in times of need like this. A 2. 68 percent interest rate is phenomenal.
Anderson: Yes.
Loftis: 4 percent for a business is good when you’re looking at 9 percent prime right now.
Anderson: Correct. And there are refinancing options so that the entire mortgage can be paid. could potentially be wrapped up into that locked in rate.
Loftis:And you’ll be at the food bank as well?
Anderson: SBA is at the food bank and SBA is also at the Disaster Recovery Center in Marion County, which is at the Marion County Fairgrounds in the community building.
Loftis: And days that you said were open Monday through Saturday, is that correct?
Jones: So it’s Monday through Saturday here in Baxter at the food bank because they have worship services there on Sunday. Um, and that the fairgrounds were open seven days a week from eight to six.
Loftis: How long will you be here?
Jones:Uh, these, these two disaster recovery centers are scheduled for at least 30 days right now.
Loftis: Fantastic.
Jones: But I, I will say, if you can get out, get out. And even if you’ve already applied online at DisasterAssistance. gov or call the waiting under number, if your case isn’t closed and you haven’t had, a uh, an inspection yet on your property, come out. You can actually get casework there done as well. They can tell you what, what you’re getting as well as if you’ve received a, uh, a letter that’s saying you’re ineligible. As we talked yesterday, I talked yesterday with Kim, make sure you read the entire letter because it’ll tell you the reasons what you’re still lacking in your application so that we can close it out and get you the resources you need.
Loftis: Keith Jones with FEMA, Claudia Anderson, SBA. We sure appreciate the good work that you’re doing for the residents of Baxter and Marion County. Kim, we’ll have all of this information on ktlo.com later this morning, along with all the details of time when they’re open and days and all that good stuff. So keep listening.
Claudia, Keith, come back and talk to us as you work through this with our residents.
Szecsi: Yeah, happy to have you back anytime. Thank you, Heather. Thank you, Claudia. Thank you, Keith.
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