East Texas

AUSTIN -- Homeowners, renters and business owners in Gregg, Harrison, Rusk, Shelby and Smith counties who suffered damage or loss as a result of Hurricane Ike now can register for federal and state disaster assistance, officials announced Friday.

Individual assistance is being made available to these counties after a review of damage assessments was done by officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Texas Governor's Division of Emergency Management.

Disaster assistance for eligible individuals may include: Grants to help pay for temporary housing and home repairs to make a home habitable; grants for serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance; low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration for homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes; and private nonprofit organizations to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance.

Residents of these counties may register anytime online at www.fema.gov or by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) toll-free. Applicants with speech or hearing impairments may call TTY1-800-462-7585.

Under the presidential declaration, individual assistance and all categories of public assistance is available in 10 counties: Angelina, Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Fort Bend, Hardin, Newton, Polk, Shelby and Tyler.

Twenty other Texas counties are designated for Individual Assistance and Public Assis-tance for debris removal and emergency protective measures. These counties are: Austin, Cherokee, Grimes, Harris, Hou-ston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgo-mery, Nacogdoches, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine, San Ja-cinto, Trinity, Walker, Waller, and Washington.

More information about this disaster is available online at www.fema.gov or www.txdps. state.tx.us/dem.