Madison County residents navigating flood recovery try relief ‘one stop shop’

People cleaning up flood and storm damage in Madison and Delaware counties have begun visiting the recently opened “one-stop shop” relief centers that combine state and
federal representatives. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, residents are looking for one-on-one assistance.

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00;00;00;02 - 00;00;09;17 Thomas Ouellette Katherine Prentice from Madison County says she lost everything in the historic August flooding. She came to the relief center to double check the applications she's filling out. 00;00;09;18 - 00;00;21;28 Katherine Prentice I just wanted to make sure I was doing the FEMA paperwork correctly. We're all lost. So best place to do is to come here and find out where you're at, that you're doing everything right. 00;00;22;02 - 00;00;43;22 Thomas Ouellette Emergency response officials say the Anderson City Government building saw about a thousand people waiting to be seen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this week. They say the one stop shop, which opened Wednesday, will help people get immediate answers. After Saturday, the one stop shop will leave Madison County and open up in one of the other counties that was affected by flooding. 00;00;43;26 - 00;00;52;18 Thomas Ouellette They say if individual paperwork help is still needed, they could potentially look at offering mobile services. I'm Thomas Ouellette in Anderson.

Katherine Prentice from Madison County says she lost everything in the historic August flooding. She came to the relief center to double check the applications she’s filling out.  

“I just wanted to make sure I was doing the FEMA paperwork correctly,” she said. “We’re all lost. So best place to do is to come here and find out where you’re at and that you’re doing everything right.”

Read More: ‘One-stop shops’ for disaster relief combine help from state and federal agencies

Emergency response officials say the Anderson City Government building saw about 1,000 people waiting to be seen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this week.  They say the one-stop shop, which opened Wednesday, will help people get immediate answers.

Madison County Emergency Management Director Lynn Edens says, so far, help navigating housing assistance is the most common service being provided.

“Many, many people in in the Anderson area are displaced,” Edens said. “Their homes are not livable right now. And we have the Indiana Housing Commission here assisting with the hotel vouchers, assisting with first month’s rent and security deposit for them, to find a place to stay.”

The Madison County Health Department was also offering free tetanus and hepatitis A shots.  The state has warned that the flood waters could have a toxic mix of volatile chemicals and bacteria, posing a risk to those cleaning up flooded buildings and cars.

County emergency officials say after Saturday, the one-stop shop will leave Madison County and open up in one of the other counties experiencing flood and storm damage.

Read More: Anderson creating city-funded emergency assistance program for homes in floodplain

“Madison County was chosen to be one of the first ones, and I believe there’s 21 counties that have the presidential declaration,” Edens said.

If services are still needed, the collaborating agencies could potentially look at offering mobile services.

Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer.  Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu