With the presidential declaration of American Samoa as a major disaster area issued Friday, there will be a completely new registration process by FEMA which will be announced in the coming days.
A Disaster Recovery Center is to be set up for the registration process and ASG and FEMA will announce the opening of that center, when they are ready.
Assistance made available under the major disaster declaration include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding is available to the territory and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by TS Gita.
As of Thursday last week the number of people who had called or gone to the Emergency Operations Center to report that their houses were not assessed for damages from Cyclone Gita had reached 1,500.
Public Works Director Faleosina Faiai Voigt said at the Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday night that their plan is to follow up on all these calls.
She told the meeting that homeowners need to have someone at their homes when the inspectors come around.
The second round of assessments began last Wednesday and are continuing this week until all homes and buildings are visited.
The assessment teams include representatives from Public Works, Homeland Security , Department of Commerce and other agencies. A few lawmakers are also with the teams.
The Public Works Director explained the second round of assessments.
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