Month: September 2011

The Schoharie  Free Library and the Middleburgh Library in Schoharie County need your help to rebuild their recently damaged book collections. Schoharie Library lost the bottom three shelves throughout and Middleburgh lost the bottom one plus shelves due to Hurricane Irene damage.

Three local independent bookstores have established funds to help them purchase replacement titles. Your donations in any dollar amount will be greatly appreciated. Please call the Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady at 518-346-2719; Market Block Books at 518-328-0045 or Book House in Colonie at 518-489-4761 with a credit card to donate. Or, stop by any of these stores in person to donate.

Thanks to Lakes Region Radio for sharing this information with us. FEMA is a federal agency so this info applies to people in New York also.

• The FEMA rep who spoke on Lakes Region Radio Friday said the contacts listed for Vermont  are also good for New York.  And he said people could go to whatever disaster assistance center they wanted if they needed to speak directly to a FEMA rep.
  The closest one to Granville right now is the Rutland Heart Center, at 1 Commons Street, which is off Allen Street across from the Rutland Regional Medical Center  (turn off right off Route 7 at McDonalds, go almost to the junction where the next light is by the Hospital and look on the left for Commons Street.)
• Remember the Pember Library has free internet services and 24/7 wireless.

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermonters who experienced damage and losses because of Tropical Storm Irene and called Vermont’s 2-1-1 line must still register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to receive federal disaster assistance.  Registering with voluntary agencies or with 2-1-1 does NOT register anyone with FEMA. The phone number to register with FEMA is 800-621-FEMA (3362).

“We have talked with many Vermonters who mistakenly believe they registered for federal assistance when they called 2-1-1,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Craig Gilbert, who leads FEMA’s mission in Vermont.  “We want to make sure there is no confusion out there. We would hate to think there are people we can’t help because they haven’t registered.”

To register with FEMA, call 800-621-FEMA (3362), go online to  www.DisasterAssistance.gov or a web-enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov. Multilingual registration assistance is available. Those with a speech disability or hearing loss who use a TTY can call 800-462-7585 directly; or 800-621-3362 if using 711 or Video Relay Service. Phone lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.

Individual assistance to homeowners and renters includes grants to cover expenses for temporary housing, home repair, and other serious disaster-related needs and expenses, such as replacement of personal property and medical, dental or transportation costs that are not covered by insurance or other assistance programs.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status.  If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585; or call 800-621-3362 if using 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS).

FEMA’s temporary housing assistance and grants for public transportation expenses, medical and dental expenses, and funeral and burial expenses do not require individuals to apply for an SBA loan. However, applicants who receive SBA loan applications must submit them to SBA loan officers to be eligible for assistance that covers personal property, vehicle repair or replacement, and moving and storage expenses.

SBA disaster loan information and application forms may be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for people with speech or hearing disabilities) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov or completed on-line at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.