THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270448
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
More than 1,700 people and businesses have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services for money to help them recover from flooding in January.
The flash flooding that began Jan. 19, caused by melting snow and heavy rains, killed four people and did millions of dollars of damage in the state.
President Clinton declared 17 Virginia localities eligible for disaster assistance, triggering a number of funding and recovery sources.
The declaration enabled individuals, businesses and agencies in those communities to file for low-interest loans and grants and unemployment assistance for anyone who had lost a job or had been unable to work on a self-employed basis because of damage stemming from the flooding.
Statewide, 1,787 individuals or businesses applied for aid. An additional 1,173 agencies and local governments also sought assistance to recover from damage to publicly owned land.
``Although even these significant efforts cannot undo the personal and public devastation caused by the flood, they can help put communities on the road to recovery,'' said Robert J. Gunter, federal coordinating officer for FEMA's recovery efforts in Virginia.
Shenandoah County, which sustained an estimated $31 million in damage, led the list of claims, with 232 being filed as of Monday, said Bland Franklin of the FEMA office in Richmond.
Government aid also included the opening of three Disaster Recovery Centers - which served a total of 628 people at sites in Edinburg, Waynesboro and Covington.
KEYWORDS: FLOODING DISASTER RELIEF by CNB