SLIDELL, LA (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is opening a center in St. Tammany Parish to help flood victims apply for government assistance.
FEMA's "disaster recovery center" is scheduled to open Monday at the Towers Administrative Building in Slidell. The center will be open on Monday thru Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
A second center is expected to open on the western side of the parish later this week.
Representatives of FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and other agencies will be at the centers.
Approximately 12,000 homes and an additional 1,200 private buildings in Louisiana were damaged by flooding from severe storms that recently battered the state.
Also Monday, the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will open centers in 23 parishes to assist flood victims in receiving disaster food assistance.
The Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides food assistance to eligible households who need help buying groceries due to lost income or damages following a disaster.
The number of people staying in Red Cross and community-run shelters is decreasing.
Red Cross spokeswoman Nancy Malone says only 150 people stayed in the shelters Sunday night.
Malone says the agency as severed 99,500 meals and distributed more than 25,700 relief items including personal care kits and cleaning supply kits to flood victims.
