Residents of Franklin County and six other Ohio counties hit by August severe weather can get in-person help with federal disaster assistance in Columbus this week, as a Survivor Outreach Availability site opens Monday, Nov. 2, at the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, 5300 Strawberry Farms Blvd. The site will be open Nov. 2 through Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to a community announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration will be on hand to help survivors with the disaster assistance application process, according to the announcement reported by the Zanesville Times Recorder. The help is available to disaster survivors from seven declared Ohio counties: Clermont, Franklin, Hamilton, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry.
The Columbus site is one of four outreach locations scheduled to operate in November, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported. The others are in Zanesville, at the Newton Township Fire Department, 5490 Maysville Pike, open Nov. 2 through Nov. 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; in New Lexington, at the Perry County EMA, 121 W. Brown St., open Nov. 2 through Nov. 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and in McConnelsville, at the Riecker Building, 155 E. Main St., open Nov. 4 through Nov. 20.
The outreach sites follow the permanent closure of Ohio’s Disaster Recovery Centers in Franklin and Perry counties, which closed at 4 p.m. on Oct. 31, according to the announcement. Officials said survivors who still need help applying should use the November outreach locations rather than waiting, while the sites are staffed in person.
For Franklin County residents, the Strawberry Farms Boulevard location keeps that help inside the county for five days this week. Survivors from the other six declared counties can use any of the four sites, and the Zanesville, New Lexington and McConnelsville locations run longer, through Nov. 20, for residents who cannot reach Columbus this week.
What happens next is the application itself: survivors who visit a site can work through the FEMA and SBA process with representatives in the room, instead of by phone or online alone. The Columbus hours end Friday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m., so Franklin County residents who want in-person help close to home should plan to go before then.
