WASHINGTON — A disaster recovery center is open at the Washington Community Center for residents and businesses affected by flooding in St. Landry Parish.
Van Reed, the director of emergency preparedness for St. Landry Parish, said 133 homes were affected by flooding in the area.
“Of that, 13 have major damage, 29 have minor damage, and we do have one that is reported destroyed," Reed said.
The recovery center connects flood victims with FEMA to begin the federal assistance application process.
"We encourage anybody who received any type of damage to go to the disaster recovery center, meet with FEMA, start the process on getting some type of reimbursement," he said.
Reed said residents should bring a photo ID, proof of ownership, and insurance paperwork when visiting the center.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is also offering low-interest disaster loans to those impacted by the flooding.
Gabriel Perales, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said, "Criteria number one is you need to live in the disaster area, criteria number two is you need to have credit acceptable to SBA, and criteria number three— because it is a low-interest rate disaster loan— you need to be able to pay back the loan."
The deadline to apply is Aug. 31.
