FEMA's Disaster Recovery Center in Bastrop County closes

FEMA's Disaster Recovery Center in Bastrop County will close its doors for good Friday at 7 pm.

That doesn't mean people there who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey will be left without help.
“This is going to be a long hard road to recovery,” said FEMA spokesperson Pamela Saulsby. 

In fact, FEMA said agents will be available to help people impacted by Hurricane Harvey as long as necessary.

There are still plenty of ways people in Bastrop County can get in touch with the agency.

“They looked at the resources, they looked at needs in other areas of the state, and made a decision that this one could close and survivors still have another location just one county over,” Saulsby said. 

The center in Fayette County will remain open for now, and, because the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance has been extended until November 24, those who still need to register have other options.

“They can still visit any disaster recovery center that's near them or anywhere in the state for that matter. They can call the disaster assistance hotline for FEMA that's 1-800-621-3362 or 1-800-621-FEMA or they can download an app for FEMA on their smartphone,” said Saulsby. 

Meanwhile, the staff at Bastrop County’s Disaster Recovery Center will move to an area that has expressed a greater need for help.

“Unfortunately, we are faced with a number of extreme weather events and so it's very likely they will find themselves responding to another disaster,” Saulsby said. 

More than 870,000 people in Texas have registered for help from FEMA, about 700 of them live in Bastrop County.

The federal organization said although it's time to pack one center up, the people of Bastrop County will not have to recover alone.

“Survivors in Bastrop County should not be concerned that they're going to from this point forward be neglected or ignored or forgotten,” said Saulsby. 

People who want to register or check the status of their registration can also do so online.