SEMA: Missourians to receive $12M in federal disaster assistance to help recovery efforts

The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) recently announced that Missourians will receive an additional $12 million in federal disaster assistance to help recovery efforts from natural disasters that hit the state during 2008.

The money will assist families affected by tornadoes, flooding and severe weather by paying for home and foundation repairs, total home rebuilds, debris clean-up and other expenses that were a direct result of the disasters.

The grant will be distributed across much of Missouri, since 104 of the state's counties and the City of St. Louis have been declared eligible for assistance by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is supplying the funding.

"This state has been hit extremely hard by natural disasters in the last few years. We've had nine presidential declared disasters in Missouri in the past 13 months. Many families and communities are still struggling to clean up and make repairs from storms or flooding last year. This federal assistance will help them do that and could provide a boost to local workers, contractors and merchants," Gov. Jay Nixon said.

The Missouri Department of Social Services applied for and received the grant and it will be administered by SEMA. It is called a Social Services Block Disaster grant and is authorized by the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act that was signed into law on September 30, 2008. The $12 million must be obligated by September 30, 2010 and all services must be paid by December 30, 2010

Local Long Term Recovery Committees, which are formed at the local-level following disasters in Missouri, will assist in identifying projects that will receive the federal funds.

The 104 eligible counties are: Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Bollinger, Boone, Buchanan, Butler, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Clark, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Daviess, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Greene, Grundy, Harrison, Hickory, Holt, Howard, Howell, Iron, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Laclede, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Livingston, McDonald, Macon, Madison, Maries, Marion, Mercer, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Newton, Nodaway, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Platte, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, St Charles, St Clair, St Francois, Ste Genevieve, St Louis, Schuyler, Scotland, Scott, Shannon, Shelby, Stoddard, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Worth, Wright, and the City of St. Louis.

Residents directly affected by these disasters with questions should contact their local Long Term Recovery Committees.

A complete list of all the committees is posted on SEMA's homepage: www.sema.dps.mo.gov. Click on the link marked "Long Term Recovery List."