Southeast Ohio residents still digging out from August’s severe weather have about a week left to get in-person federal disaster help in Zanesville, where a FEMA and Small Business Administration outreach site runs through Friday, November 20, according to a community announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration are available at the Newton Township Fire Department, 5490 Maysville Pike, in Zanesville, and the Muskingum County outreach location is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Zanesville Times Recorder reported. FEMA and SBA representatives there can help survivors with the disaster assistance application process.
The help is not limited to Muskingum County. The assistance is available to disaster survivors from seven declared Ohio counties — Clermont, Franklin, Hamilton, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry — according to the announcement reported by the Times Recorder.
Two other southeast Ohio sites run on the same clock. Perry County’s site at the Perry County EMA, 121 W. Brown St. in New Lexington, is open through November 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Morgan County’s site at the Riecker Building, 155 E. Main St. in McConnelsville, operates through November 20 as well, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported. A fourth site, in Franklin County, operated November 2 through November 6 and has closed.
The outreach sites picked up where Ohio’s Disaster Recovery Centers left off: the centers in Franklin and Perry counties closed permanently at 4 p.m. on October 31, and survivors in the seven declared counties can continue receiving help with the application process through the outreach locations, according to the Times Recorder.
For a household still weighing whether to apply, the practical deadline is now the headline: walk-in help in Zanesville, New Lexington and McConnelsville ends November 20. Residents impacted by the August storms in any of the seven declared counties can use the remaining days to sit down with FEMA and SBA representatives in person rather than working through the application alone.
The announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder lists no in-person dates beyond November 20, so survivors who want face-to-face help should treat the coming week as the window to use. The Zanesville site’s hours — 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Newton Township Fire Department on Maysville Pike — make it a daytime stop residents can plan a trip around before the deadline arrives.