Muskingum County residents still recovering from August’s severe weather can sit down in person with federal disaster officials in Zanesville from Nov. 2 through Nov. 20, as representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration staff a Survivor Outreach Availability site at the Newton Township Fire Department, 5490 Maysville Pike, according to a community announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder. The Zanesville site will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Times Recorder reported.
The help is aimed at disaster survivors from seven declared Ohio counties — Clermont, Franklin, Hamilton, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry — and FEMA and SBA representatives at the site can help survivors work through the disaster assistance application process, according to the Zanesville Times Recorder.
The Zanesville location is one of four Survivor Outreach Availability sites scheduled to operate in November, the Times Recorder reported. In Perry County, the site at the Perry County Emergency Management Agency, 121 W. Brown St. in New Lexington, will be open from Nov. 2 through Nov. 20, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the Times Recorder. In Morgan County, the site at the Riecker Building, 155 E. Main St. in McConnelsville, will be open from Nov. 4 through Nov. 20, the Times Recorder reported.
The fourth site serves Franklin County, at the Franklin County EMA, 5300 Strawberry Farms Blvd. in Columbus, open from Nov. 2 through Nov. 6 with hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the Zanesville Times Recorder. Together the four sites keep an in-person option alive across the declared area after the standing recovery centers wind down.
That handoff is the immediate deadline for survivors. Ohio’s Disaster Recovery Centers in Franklin and Perry counties will close permanently at 4 p.m. on Oct. 31, according to the Times Recorder. Residents of the seven declared counties who still need help after Saturday can continue receiving help with the disaster assistance application process through the Survivor Outreach Availability locations in November, the Times Recorder reported.
The August storms left damage scattered across a wide band of Ohio — the declaration covers counties from Clermont, Hamilton and Franklin in the southwest and center of the state to Licking, Muskingum, Morgan and Perry in the east — which is why the outreach is spread across four sites rather than concentrated in one city, based on the locations and counties listed in the announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder.
For Muskingum County residents, the Zanesville site is the closest in-person option, and it stays open the longest of the four — a full run from Nov. 2 to Nov. 20, matching the Perry County site’s schedule, according to the Times Recorder. McConnelsville’s Morgan County site opens two days later, on Nov. 4, and also runs through Nov. 20, the Times Recorder reported.
Muskingum County has stayed in the news this fall for other reasons as well — earlier this week NewsForce247 reported on a Columbus man sentenced to 13 years for trafficking drugs into Muskingum County — but for storm survivors, the November outreach is the practical story: three weeks of face-to-face help with applications rather than a phone queue or a website.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed from the announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder: the Zanesville site’s location, dates and hours; the other three sites’ locations and dates; the seven eligible declared counties; and the Oct. 31 permanent closure of the Franklin and Perry Disaster Recovery Centers. What the announcement does not spell out, per the Times Recorder’s report: whether appointments are needed or walk-ins are accepted at the outreach sites, and exactly which documents survivors should bring — residents can ask FEMA or their county emergency management agency before making the trip.
What happens next: the Franklin and Perry Disaster Recovery Centers close at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, and the Zanesville, New Lexington and Columbus outreach sites open Monday, Nov. 2, with the McConnelsville site following on Wednesday, Nov. 4. All four November sites wrap up by Nov. 20, so survivors who want in-person help should plan to visit well before that date.
Photo: Paul Sableman, CC BY