What's next?
After the hurricane...

NOAA image of Hurricane Ivan

News Release Menu:

• Status of Debris Pickup (Acrobat PDF Document)
• Status of Debris Pickup JPG 180KB)
• Mobile County Commission Honors Hurricane Workers
• Disaster Food Stamps Fact Sheet
• Report from Mobile County Commissioner Mike Dean, Sept. 30, 2004
• Hurricane Debris Removal Guidelines
• Make Sure Your Contractor Has Proper Licenses

Mobile County Commission Honors Hurricane Workers:

The Mobile County Commission will honor the forgotten heroes of Hurricane Ivan on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at 10 a.m.

The forgotten heroes are those public workers who sacrifice life and limb to insure that county roads are safe and free of debris for emergency vehicles to travel. Also among the group slated for honors are workers who stayed in such county-owned facilities as Government Plaza during the hurricane. Their charge is to protect public facilities in the event Ivan's wrath damaged public properties. Every county-owned facility had 24-hour personnel working around the clock.

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DISASTER FOOD STAMPS FACT SHEET

GENERAL:
Eligibility for food stamps is on a household basis. If you and the people who live and eat with you do not have much money, you may want to apply for food stamps. Food stamp benefits are used like cash to buy food. There are special food stamp rules for people affected by a big disaster such as a hurricane.

• Income, resources and expenses will be considered for the period of September 14, 2004 through October 13, 2004 for the purpose of this program.

FILING AN APPLICATION:
If you want to apply, you must file an application. Be sure to tell the truth on your application. If you get more food stamp benefits than you should because of a mistake, you will be asked to pay back the extra amount. If you give wrong information on purpose, you may be ineligible for a period of time, fined, or put in prison. After the disaster is over, investigations may be made to see if households got food stamp benefits by giving wrong information.

INTERVIEW:
You will be asked to complete a food stamp application. A worker will go over the application with you. If you do not understand a question, you should ask the food stamp worker to explain it to you during the interview.

PROOF:
During the interview, you will be asked to show proof of your identity and where you live. Examples of proof of your identity are a driver's license, wage stub, a birth certificate, a voter registration card, or a work ID card. Examples of proof of where you live are a statement from your landlord, rent or mortgage receipt, telephone book, post office records, a piece of mail with your name and address on it, utility bills, or driver's license.

ELIGIBILITY RULES:
You cannot get disaster food stamps unless your home was in the disaster area, your household will be buying food and preparing meals, and you can answer YES to at least one of the following questions.

• Has your home or self-employment property been damaged or destroyed by the hurricane?
• Does your household have other disaster-caused expenses?
• Has your income been delayed, reduced, or stopped because of the disaster?
• Does your household have any cash or money in a bank account, which you cannot get to because of the disaster?

You cannot get disaster food stamps if your only loss is food due to a power outage.

Eligibility is based on how much money you can get now (for example, cash on hand or from a bank account) and how much you expect to get later such as income. Some disaster expenses will be subtracted such as expenses to repair damage to your home or property necessary for work, temporary shelter expenses, expenses for moving out of an evacuated area; expenses related to protecting a home or business from the disaster and expenses due to a disaster-related injury or death. The limits for household income and cash resources, minus disaster expenses, for a month are:

You will be asked to provide the social security numbers for each household member, if known.

RECEIVING FOOD STAMPS

A decision will be made on your eligibility on the date you apply for benefits. If eligible, your household will receive benefits only for the month of October. Also if your household is eligible, and you have never had an EBT card, one will be mailed to you along with a personal identification number (PIN) and instructions for activating the EBT card within 3-4 days. If you do not receive your EBT card within this period of time, please call 1-800-997-8888.

The amount of benefits a household gets if eligible depends on the number of people in the home.

USING FOOD STAMP BENEFITS:

You may use food stamp benefits in any store that accepts them. Most grocery stores take food stamp benefits. You can only use food stamp benefits to buy food or to buy seeds or plants for your garden to grow food for your household's use. You cannot buy alcoholic drinks, tobacco, vitamins, toilet paper, paper towels, soap or soap products with your food stamp benefits. It is a very serious crime to sell your food stamp benefits for cash or drugs.

NONDISCRIMINATION: If you think you have not been treated fairly because of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religious creed, or political beliefs, you should write to the Administrator, Food and Nutrition Services, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.

FAIR HEARINGS
A household not satisfied with agency action affecting its participation in the Food Stamp Program has the right to request a fair hearing within 90 days of the action being appealed. The request may be made orally or in writing to the County Department of Human Resources, Food Stamp Office or to the Department of Human Resources, Food Assistance Division, S. Gordon Persons Building, 50 Ripley Street, Montgomery, Alabama 36130-4000, telephone (334) 242-1700. A household member or a representative, such as a legal counsel, a relative, a friend or other spokesperson may present the household's case. Free legal counsel may be available through Legal Services Alabama

Information provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service

The USDA has authorized the Department of Human Resources to accept applications from families in the authorized counties for a five-day period. USDA has authorized this program for a five-day period only. No applications can be accepted beyond the five days authorized. The Mobile County Department of Human Resources will be accepting applications from October 12 through October 16 at the Mobile Civic Center, 401 Civic Center Drive, Mobile from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The application schedule will be based upon the first letter of the head of household's last name.

October 12: A-F
October 13: G-K
October 14: L-R
October 15: S-Z
October 16-Make-up Day (Last day to apply).

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Report from Mobile County Commissioner Mike Dean, Sept. 30, 2004

Debris Removal in Mobile County
The Mobile County Commission, along with a few mayors, other city staffers and officials with the U.S. Corps of Engineers met Wednesday, September 29 to discuss the status of debris removal in our county. In an effort to insure all participating government entities are kept abreast of this issue, I've decided to forward this report to you.

The 100% Coverage
We are being told by state officials that this issue is going up to the highest level in FEMA. Corps officials said cities and counties should see a resolution sometime late next week. At any rate, the current process means cities and county won't have to upfront any money!

Companies in Your Area Interested in Sub-Contracts for Debris Removal:
Should call Phllips and Jordan at (813) 783-1132.

A Ballpark Figure on How Much Debris Collected:
An estimated 51,000 cubic yards of debris has been collected so far in Mobile County by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The current yardage collection is about half of the amount of debris collected during Hurricane George which slammed into the Gulf Coast in 1998. Corps officials said Wednesday during an informational briefing on Wednesday that they are expecting the clean-up in the county to take 60 days.

How Many Work Crews are in Mobile County?
Currently there are 60 work crews in various zones of the county.

Where are the Zones?

• Zone 1 - Spring Hill Area
• Zone 3 - Central Mobile
• Zone 4 - Western Mobile County (west of Highway 90 up to Three Notch Road and Theodore)
• Zone 5 - Dauphin Island
• Zone 6 - South Mobile County (45% complete in collection)
• Zone 7 - East Mobile County - around Airport Boulevard
• Zone 8 - North Mobile County - currently setting up an operation

Next Meeting:
Wednesday, October 6, 2004 at 10:00 a.m., Mobile Government Plaza - Multi Purpose Room

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Hurricane Debris Removal Guidelines

Crews have begun picking up hurricane debris. In an effort to insure efficiency in the process, residents living in the unincorporated areas of Mobile County, City of Mobile, Bayou La Batre, Dauphin Island, Prichard, Creola, Mount Vernon and Citronelle are asked to adhere to the following guidelines as it relates to debris removal:

• Separate vegetated debris (trees, limbs and shrubbery) from non-vegetated debris (metals, furniture and plastic);
• DO NOT include any household garbage in the debris;
• Place debris on public right-of-way;
• Public entities are PROHIBITED from picking up debris from PRIVATE PROPERTY OR PRIVATE ROADS. Therefore, residents living on private roads are urged to take the debris to the nearest public right-of- way;
• DO NOT cover or block fire hydrants, mailboxes, drainage areas or streets and roads when placing debris on public right-of-way;
• PLEASE adhere to the NO BURN ban for Mobile County;
• Only hurricane debris is eligible for removal;
• NO HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE it will contaminate the pile. If household garbage is place in the debris DEBRIS WILL NOT BE PICKED UP! Household garbage should be disposed of through normal collection service.

To access information and debris removal, please call the automated information telephone line at

(251) 574-7777

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Working together, we can clean up our county and cities.

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Make Sure Your Contractor Has Proper Licenses

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, citizens are urged to make sure their contractor has the proper license to do the business locally and in Alabama. The licensing categories are as follows:

• For residential building repairs up to $10,000;
• For residential building repairs over $10,000;
• For commercial building repairs up to $50,000;
• For commercial building repairs over $50,000;
• For electrical repairs and air conditioning.

To check for a contractors compliance, call:

Mobile County Building Inspections: 574-4800

Alabama Homebuilders Licensing Department: 1-800-304-0853

Alabama General Contractors: 1-800-356-6361

Alabama Heating & Air Conditioning Licensing Department: 1-866-855-1912

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