posted September 16, 2005
Gov. Phil Bredesen on Friday announced that a Disaster Assistance Center will be established Monday in Memphis to assist remaining Hurricane Katrina evacuees in finding permanent housing and employment. In addition, three mobile assistance units will be dispatched across the state to take information on available federal programs to evacuees.
“The emergency declaration we requested and were granted means our federal partners will reimburse Tennessee for costs incurred by the state and local governments in immediate and short-term provisions for evacuees,” Bredesen said. “Many people who are staying in Tennessee at least short-term have already found jobs, but we want to help others who are displaced or are having a more difficult transition getting back on their feet.”
The Disaster Assistance Center will be located at 315 South Hollywood Ave. on the Liberty Bowl grounds in Memphis and will be open by 10 a.m. CDT on Monday. Three mobile teams will be dispatched – one to each grand division of the state - with the goal of reaching everyone in state-sponsored, private and Red Cross shelters with information on accessing federal social service programs, finding appropriate housing, and information about job openings or filing for unemployment insurance with their home states.
The East Tennessee mobile unit will be at shelters in Greeneville on Monday, in Knoxville on Tuesday and in Chattanooga on Wednesday. The Middle Tennessee unit will be at the Tullahoma shelter site Tuesday and at the Smyrna shelter site on Wednesday. The West Tennessee mobile center will be in McKenzie on Monday, Trenton on Tuesday, in Jackson on Wednesday.
Officials also continue to urge people to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which can be done by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or visiting www.fema.gov. About 15,000 people or families have registered as evacuees with FEMA. There are 1,807 people sheltered in one of 39 TEMA-recognized shelters.
New information on the state’s disaster assistance effort:
- Family Assistance has been provided to 1,816 families, with 4,444 electronic benefit cards distributed through the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). Nearly 500 people have requested federal Medicaid assistance. Medicaid costs will be billed to the home states of evacuees who seek federal Medicaid assistance in Tennessee.
- 2,878 students K-12 are registered in public schools and identified as evacuees; in addition, 390 evacuees have enrolled in the state’s private schools. A total of 581 students displaced from Gulf Coast colleges and universities have registered for classes at Tennessee institutions – and about four in ten of those admissions are Tennessee residents who were attending out-of-state schools.
- The Tennessee Department of Health Office of Vital Records and several other states’ health departments are working together to assist evacuees born in Louisiana who need their birth cards. Many evacuees may need birth cards to enroll their children in school and to receive much needed benefits during this time.
FEMA has established a toll-free Hurricane Katrina hotline to accept public contributions of goods and services to assist victims, at 1-800-440-6728.
FEMA also has activated the National Emergency Resource Registry to coordinate donations from businesses willing to assist with major needs such as housing, transportation and supplies. It is able to match donors to specific needs in the affected area. Businesses can access the database at www.fema.gov and click on the “Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina” or www.swern.gov/ to register to provide relief.
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