FEMA expands its reach in southeast Minnesota
The latest openings came Monday, when FEMA opened recovery centers at the St. Charles Community Center, 830 Whitewater Ave., and at the ambulance garage in Elgin, 130 E. Main St.
The Elgin and St. Charles FEMA locations joined centers that opened Saturday at 143 W. Broadway in Owatonna and at the American Legion at 11 Madison Ave. in Eyota.
FEMA opened centers in Winona, Hokah and Rushford last week.
The four most recent centers were added to make it more convenient for people to apply for aid, said FEMA spokesman Len DeCarlo. The centers opened later than the first three because of staffing issues and logistics.
The center in St. Charles will be open only through Wednesday, DeCarlo said. The other centers are open until further notice.
The FEMA program is capped at $28,200 per household to cover costs such as temporary housing, repair and rebuilding. Federal assistance is also available through the Small Business Administration, which offers low-interest loans to flood-affected homeowners and businesses.
FEMA has given out $5,833,946 to flood victims so far, DeCarlo said. The agency has received 2,631 applications for aid and has completed 2,080 inspections, he said.
FEMA is also working to find temporary housing for people displaced by the flooding and will look first for available houses and apartments, DeCarlo said. Five people have been identified as needing temporary housing in FEMA mobile houses so far, but they haven't moved in yet, DeCarlo said.
FEMA's seven recovery centers in southeastern Minnesota are all that are scheduled for the area at this point, but a decision might be made later this week on whether more centers are needed, DeCarlo said.
