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Hardee County: Disaster Recovery Center opened

Disaster Recovery Centers provide survivors with information from Florida state agencies, FEMA, and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

WAUCHULA, Fla — More than $190 million in federal disaster assistance has been approved for over 127,000 households damaged by Hurricane Ian, according to a press release from FEMA.

The federal agency and its state partners are opening more Disaster Recovery Centers, while hundreds of Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) specialists are going door-to-door to help survivors sign up for assistance in affected communities.

The most recent center to open is in Wauchula, Hardee County. On its first official day open, a line wrapped around the Civic Center building as residents waited to get information on federal relief opportunities.

Listed below are the resources being offered to eligible storm survivors. 

  • FEMA will pay hotel and motel costs for eligible survivors. FEMA and the state of Florida activated the Transitional Shelter Assistance Program, which allows FEMA to make payments directly to participating hotels and motels in Alabama, Florida and Georgia that provide emergency shelter to survivors.
  • More than 700 FEMA inspectors are in the field going to homes of survivors who registered for federal disaster assistance. To date, they have performed over 16,000 inspections.
  • FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is issuing advance payments to help Floridians jumpstart their recovery. To date, FEMA has paid more than $17 million to Florida policyholders.
  • NFIP policyholders may receive up to $1,000 to reimburse the purchase of supplies like sandbags, plastic sheeting and lumber. They may also receive up to $1,000 in storage expenses if they moved insured property. Policyholders should file a claim for flood loss avoidance reimbursement, regardless if it was successful in preventing flood damage.
  • Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available to eligible survivors. Floridians should file a claim for loss of income caused by Hurricane Ian by going to Disaster Unemployment Assistance - FloridaJobs.org and selecting “Apply for Hurricane Ian DUA,” visiting a local CareerSource Career Center, or calling (800) 385-3920. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET.
  • Thousands of federal staff are supporting Ian response efforts. This includes more than 1, v800 staff from other federal agencies. More than 1,800 emergency management personnel from 26 states were deployed to Florida through an Emergency Management Assistance Compact. 

The Hardee County Disaster Recovery Center is located at the Wauchula Civic Center, on 515 Civic Center Dr., Wauchula, FL 33873.

Other centers are operating at:

CHARLOTTE COUNTY
Home Depot, 12621 S McCall Rd, Port Charlotte, FL 33981

COLLIER COUNTY
Veterans Community Park, 1895 Veterans Park Drive, Naples, 34109

LEE COUNTY
Lakes Regional Library, 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers, FL 33919

LEE COUNTY
Fort Myers DMS Building, 2295 Victoria Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33901

ORANGE COUNTY
Barnett Park, 4801 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32808

OSCEOLA COUNTY
Hart Memorial Central Library, 211 E. Dakin Avenue, Kissimmee, FL 34741

SARASOTA COUNTY
Shannon Staub Public Library, 4675 Career Lane, North Port, FL 34289

All centers are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

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