Rep. Pascrell Welcomes Opening of FEMA Disaster RecoveryCenters in Essex and Passaic Counties to Aid Those Affected by Hurricane Irene

Press Release

U.S. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today appreciated the Federal Emergency Management Agency's announcement of disaster recovery centers in Passaic and Essex counties.

"I am extremely heartened by the unified effort among federal, state and local officials to open the disaster relief centers as quickly as possible. Thousands of people need help and these locations will make it easier for them to get it," said Pascrell, who urged President Obama to declare a major disaster area for the regions in New Jersey that were affected by Hurricane Irene. "I urged everyone who was affected by the storms and flooding to register with FEMA for federal aid, so that they may get all of the assistance they can."

The two Eighth Congressional District locations are:

Passaic County
The Paterson Museum
2 Market Street
Paterson, NJ 07501

Essex County
Senior Citizen Community Center
376 Hollywood Ave.
Fairfield, N.J.

Each disaster recovery center is staffed with FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration and state agency disaster recovery specialists who are ready to help survivors through the recovery process.

Residents affected by the flooding are encouraged to register with FEMA before visiting a center.

To register for assistance, residents should call FEMA's toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY/TDD 1-800-462-7585 for the speech and hearing impaired (for relay service, call 711 or 1-800-852-7897) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week. Multi-lingual operators are available to answer calls during this time. Residents may also register online anytime at www.disasterassistance.gov.

At the Disaster Recovery Center, visitors can:
-Receive information about different types of state and federal disaster assistance.
-Get help completing low-interest loan applications from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for homeowners, renters and business owners.
-Inquire about the status of applications for federal assistance.
-May receive referrals to voluntary organizations to help with immediate unmet needs.
-Learn cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce the impact of future disaster losses.

Until further notice, daily hours at each disaster recovery center are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.

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