In a little more than a month after Hurricane Lenny struck the territory the Federal Emergency Management Agency has doled out more than $650,000 in assistance.
As of Monday, about 3,400 Virgin Islanders had registered for assistance with FEMA, disaster assistance officials said. Hurricane Lenny, a Category 4 storm that struck on Nov. 17, hit St. Croix the hardest as 3,252 people registered for disaster assistance. On St. Thomas, 125 people registered and on St. John there were three.
Some 658 households have received checks from FEMA worth $660,255. Inspectors are in the field continuing to verify damages reported by victims of Hurricane Lenny.
By Dec. 16, the U.S. Small Business Administration had approved $68,700 for two home loans and $46,800 for two business loans.
As of Monday, government agencies and non-profit organizations including the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, the V.I. Personnel Dept., Elena Christian Junior High School, V.I. Department of Justice and the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency had received approximately $218,000 from FEMA, officials said.
St. Croix residents have kept FEMA's Disaster Recovery Center at the Sion Farm Commercial Center on Queen Mary Highway busy with an average of 76 people per day since opening on Dec. 1. The DRC is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The same services that are available at the DRC are also available on FEMA's Helpline at 1-800-525-0321. The Helpline is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Virgin Islanders who are expecting a letter or a check from FEMA but have not received either should call the Helpline to verify that their addresses are correct and to check with their post offices to see if their mail is being held for them. Disaster recovery officials are still encouraging those who suffered damages from Hurricane Lenny to register with FEMA by calling 1-800-462-9029. That toll free number is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
