One Week Left to File Georgia Storm Assistance

Only one week remains for any Georgia resident who had property damage or other losses as a result of the tornadoes and severe storms that ripped across the state in mid-March to register for state-federal disaster assistance.

The deadline is May 19 for residents in Bartow, Burke, DeKalb, Floyd, Fulton, Jefferson and Polk counties to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Registration takes about 20 minutes. Apply online at www.fema.gov or by a toll-free telephone call to 800-621-FEMA (3362). For the speech- or hearing-impaired the number is TTY 800-462-7585. Registration hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. Multilingual operators are available.

Available assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for renters, homeowners and businesses of all sizes to cover uncompensated property losses, and other programs that help meet eligible disaster-related needs.

May 19 is also the deadline for homeowners, renters and businesses to return applications to the SBA for loans to cover disaster-related damages to real and personal property.

Officials urge everyone who has registered with FEMA and received an SBA application to complete the form and return it even if they are not seeking a loan. Submitting the SBA application by the May 19 deadline is required before applicants can be considered for some types of FEMA aid.