FEMA and State officials open disaster recovery center in Madison

The State of South Dakota and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have opened a disaster recovery center in Madison to offer face-to-face support to individuals and businesses impacted by the flooding, tornadoes, or severe storms from September 9th through the 26th of this year.  The Lake County Disaster Recovery Center is the first one to open within this disaster declaration, and it is located in the former Cars for Les building at 455 South Highland Avenue in Madison. The Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., but will be closed on Thanksgiving Day on Thursday.  

Nate Custer, a FEMA Public Information Officer, says anyone affected by the recent disaster can stop by the center and get their questions answered. 

Custer says the Disaster Recovery Center includes representatives from the State of South Dakota, FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and other organizations, who are there to explain available assistance programs and help connect people with resources that best match their recovery needs. 

Corey Williams, a Public Information Officer with the U.S. Small Business Administration, says that there will be SBA representatives at the center as well to talk with people and businesses about what they may be able to assist them with.

Custer says that the assistance that may be available for flood victims will be determined on a case-by-case basis as a way to help people get back on their feet, and in some cases, back into their homes.  

There are eleven area counties now designated for Individual Assistance under the federal disaster declaration (Brookings, Charles Mix, Davison, Hanson, Hutchinson, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, Moody, and Yankton counties), as well as the Flandreau and Yankton Indian reservations.  Custer says that more disaster recovery centers will be set up in the future. He says there is no timeline for when the disaster recovery center in Madison will close, but says it will be set up for a while to accommodate disaster victims. 

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Homeowners, renters and businesses can register for disaster assistance before visiting a recovery center. There are several ways to register:

•              • Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov or DisasterAssistance.gov/es (for Spanish).

•              • Use the FEMA mobile app in English or Spanish.

•              • Call the disaster assistance helpline at 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585 (TTY) anytime from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual operators are available.

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KJAM’s full interview with FEMA’s Nate Custer and U.S. SBA’s Corey Williams can be found here: