FEMA mobile operation centers open along the coast - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Several mobile FEMA recovery centers have popped up around the Gulf Coast. One such center opened up in Pascagoula Monday around 7 a.m. on Vega Street behind the Jackson County Fairgrounds.

About two dozen people came in the first hour.

The copier was already working overtime at one center, spitting out applications for help for victims of Hurricane Isaac. In the first two hours of operation, more than 30 people came to seek assistance. For some, it was a painful reminder of Katrina, with the same results of seven years ago.

"Everything is real flooded out," said Trina Ratliff. "I went to Philadelphia, Mississippi, my hometown to stay and when I came back everything was flooded out."

While Isaac was no Katrina when it comes to total damage, it was still bad enough, according to Ed Williams with the Small Business Administration.

"We have identified a sufficient amount of people to justify this declaration, so we're anticipating quite a few people to come through the doors over the application filing period," Williams said.

For people like Rodney Colman, coming to a recovery center is like deja vu.

"This is the third time it has flooded, so I'm hoping to put it in a mitigation process or whatever," Colman said. "I don't know what all FEMA offers, but I wanted to see if I could get some assistance in helping to alleviate my problem. It's been there a long time and it's a really troubling situation."

Even though the disaster recovery program is headed up by FEMA and MEMA, the Small Business Administration is also involved. And surprisingly, a lot of folks may not know this, but they mostly help homeowners.

"About 85 percent of every loan we make in a disaster is to a homeowner or a renter or even someone who just lost their car," Williams said. "We can provide these low interest loans to just about anybody that has any damage resulting from this storm."

Here's a list of FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open in South Mississippi:

Jackson County Fairgrounds
4761 Vega Street
Pascagoula, MS

Hancock Resource Center (next to PRCC & WIN Job Center)
454 Highway 90
Waveland, MS

National Guard Armory (opening Tuesday at 9am)
1251 B Hwy 11 South
Picayune, MS

Old Baker Maid Building
403 South Main St
Poplarville, MS

Assistance applications will be taken through Oct. 31. Unless otherwise noted, the centers are open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those impacted by Hurricane Isaac may also apply online at www.disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362.

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