Cleanup continues from Memorial Day tornadoes that pummeled parts of Ohio, including the village of Roseville, where Federal Emergency Management Agency will operate a disaster recovery center beginning Wednesday.
FEMA spokesman Gerard Hammink says representatives of FEMA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency will be on hand to explain disaster assistance programs.
“It’s a place where people who have been affected by these storms can come meet with FEMA face-to-face,” Hammink says. “It’s customer service in-person.”
The center will be open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at Roseville Elementary School. It will be closed for the July 4 holiday.
The National Weather Service says an EF-1 tornado hit the village, which straddles the Muskingum and Perry Count line, during a statewide outbreak of tornadoes on Memorial Day. About 200 Roseville-area structures were damaged by winds up to 110 mph. No injuries were reported.
Hammink says it's impossible to know how many people will visit the temporary center.
“We want to be of service," Hammink says. "We know that a tornado did hit Roseville, so that’s why they’re there. We really can’t predict how many people are going to decide to come in.”
The situation was much worse near Dayton, where FEMA already opened several disaster recovery centers, since at least 13 tornadoes tore through the Miami Valley. At least one person was killed and damages could approach $1 billion.
Hammink says FEMA has approved 825 claims in the 10 Ohio counties that the White House initially declared as disaster areas. Hammink says those claims total $2.2 million in individual assistance grants, but he was not sure how many of those people have received any money.
On Tuesday, Mahoning County in northeast Ohio was added to the list of counties covered by President Trump's disaster declaration, opening it to receive federal assistance. The other counties included are Auglaize, Darke, Greene, Hocking, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Muskingum, Perry and Pickaway.
