Disaster Recovery Centers Offer Personal Opportunity to Receive FEMA Assistance

On the quiet ground floor of the Greeneville courthouse annex is a busy disaster recovery center, where the goal of FEMA agents is to make life just a little bit easier for Tennesseans seeking normalcy after Helene.

FEMA recently expanded its activities in flood-ravaged East Tennessee, with additional disaster recovery centers opening in Greene County and Hamblen County.

For those who still don’t have internet or power, or who simply prefer the more personal nature of an in-person conversation, one of FEMA’s disaster recovery centers may be an ideal route to apply for assistance. The centers also offer the opportunity to discuss specific questions or discuss a particular need.

In Greene County, the center doesn’t feel overly bureaucratic and there aren’t long wait times like at the DMV. There is a conversational approach that recognizes the individuality of each person’s situation.

Providing community resources and support is a focus at all centers. “Talking to people is great,” said Bob Nix, a FEMA hazard mitigation specialist who works at the Greene County center.

“That’s why we do what we do. Ultimately, it helps people,” said FEMA representative Rick Brewer. “We are just here to support people.”

What happens in the disaster recovery centers?

At a disaster recovery center, FEMA agents are available to help apply for assistance, check the status of an application and review decision letters, Brewer said.

Some centers also have Hazard Mitigation Support, a resource with information useful to rebuilders, whether it’s advice on hiring a reputable contractor or tools to assess whether a home or rental property is in a floodplain .

The average time of a visit to downtown Greene County is about 20-25 minutes, Brewer said, and most visitors are seen immediately.

Those who go to the center to fill out an initial application should be prepared with the following, according to FEMA:

Name and citizen service number of the main applicant
Name and social security number of co-applicant (recommended by FEMA, but not required)
Current contact details
Current and pre-disaster address, including zip codes
Names of all residents of the household before the disaster
Types of insurance taken out by the household
Annual gross household income before the disaster
Losses caused by the disaster
Bank account number and routing number for direct deposit of funds, if requested

More than 10,000 households in Tennessee have signed up since the disaster was declared. The Greene County center has been seeing an average of about 17 households per day requesting assistance since it opened on Oct. 22.

The Greene County center is accessible and parking is available, both priorities when developing a center.

“We try to place these DRCs in locations that are well known to people in the community,” Brewer said. “We try to make it as easy as possible. I can’t emphasize that enough.”

Where are Tennessee’s disaster recovery centers?

Tennessee has five designated centers where FEMA assistance is offered, according to the agency’s online information disaster recovery center locator:

Carter County: 1745 Highway 19 E., Elizabethton, TN 37643
Cocke County: 466 Learning Road, Newport, TN 37821
Greene County: 204 N. Cutler St., Greeneville, TN 37745
Hamblen County: 441 W. Main St., Morristown, TN 37814
Unicoi County: 615 S. Main Ave., Erwin, TN 37650

Greene, Hamblen and Unicoi counties have disaster recovery centers, while Carter and Cocke Counties have state-established multi-agency resource centers staffed by FEMA personnel. FEMA plans to establish additional disaster recovery centers in Tennessee, Brewer said.

Some FEMA agents have traveled door to door to provide application assistance, setting up shop in locations that have naturally become community hubs in Helene’s aftermath, such as Fender’s farm in Washington County, Brewer said.

In addition to in-person options, Tennesseans recovering from Hurricane Helene can apply for FEMA assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov or in the FEMA app. There is also the helpline: 800-621-3362.

Dec. 2 is the deadline to apply for federal disaster assistance, according to a FEMA news release. As of October 25, the federal government had provided more than $15 million to Tennesseans affected by Hurricane Helene. FEMA funds for housing and other assistance, Brewer told Knox News.

Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller. Email [email protected].

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