Albany Area Storm Recovery Roundup

‘Calm After the Storm’ session set

ALBANY — The Albany Technical College Special Needs program will host an informational session entitled “Calm After the Storm” at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Albany Tech Kirkland Conference Center.

Tech officials say the session is designed to provide help to those recovering from the January storms in Albany. The session will cover the effects of trauma and is designed to help attendees identify and understand the effects trauma has on behavior and functioning, as well as help participants gain an understanding of and responsiveness to the impact of trauma, including physical, psychological, and emotional safety for survivors.

Presenters for the event include Lynda O. Hammond and Alvita Swain with Strive2Thrive. The event is open to Albany Tech faculty, staff, students and the general public.

SWGA Project helps storm victims

ALBANY — The Southwest Georgia Project is partnering with Georgia Stand-Up of Atlanta to provide disaster assistance to residents of Albany and surrounding counties.

Officials with the local organization say they are working with local leaders on a donation drive called Stand-Up 4 Albany that will be conducted at noon Friday at the former Winn-Dixie building at 200 E. Oakridge Drive. Items to be given away include toilet tissue, disposable baby diapers, hygiene products, child nourishment items, cleaning supplies, deodorants, adult diapers, bottled water, plastic totes, first-aid kits, paper towels and canned goods.

For information about the Stand-Up 4 Albany event, the Southwest Georgia Project or Georgia Stand-Up, contact Karen Lawrence at (229) 430-9870.

Two disaster centers set to close

ALBANY — The state and FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open in Crisp and Turner counties for the January storms are set to close permanently in the next few days.

The center in Crisp County at the Cordele Fire Department will close Saturday at 5 p.m. It will be open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

The center at the Turner Civic Center in Ashburn will close at 7 p.m. Wednesday. It will be open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday- Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday.

To find other Disaster Recovery Centers still open in Georgia, log onto fema.gov and search for FEMA: DRC Locator or call the Helpline for the locations.

Toll-free numbers will continue to be open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. The FEMA Helpline is (800) 621-3362. Those who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY may call (800) 462-7585. If you use 711 or VRS, you can still use the Helpline number.

With any computer, smartphone or tablet, a disaster survivor may log onto DisasterAssistance.gov. The FEMA mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play, the Apple App Store or fema.gov/mobile-app.

For those who have applied for low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the number for the SBA Customer Service Center is (800) 659-2955. (Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.) The website for disaster questions and information is www.sba.gov/disaster.