- Crews with FEMA spent their day Monday going door-to-door in the Woodville and Mabry Manor neighborhoods.
- The federal team is asking neighbors about their needs and helping them through the application process.
- Watch the video to hear how neighbors are feeling about the response.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
FEMA crewsspent their day Monday going door to door in the Woodville neighborhood.
ABC 27's Kendall Brandt followed along as they worked to help neighbors get assistance.
Philip Shedd speaks with people impacted by storms every day.
"A lot of people talk about how it just came out of nowhere, we hear that a lot when it comes to tornadoes," Shedd said. "You get this alert on your phone and it's here."
That's why he and his team are here from FEMA.
WATCH VIDEO OF THE DAMAGE IN WOODVILLE THE DAY OF THE STORM:
We spent part of our day with them as they went door to door asking neighbors if they need help.
"We are trying to reach out to the people who are disproportionately impacted, so the people who might not be able to use the phone very well to register over the phone or people who might not be computer literate," Shedd said.
It's something Mabry Manor neighbor Robert Beverly said people in his area need.
"There will be a lot of relief by just seeing and knowing there's assistance on the way," Beverly said.
FEMA also sent a crew to his neighborhood to let people know about the help available.
Tarps and debris are still throughout the area, and Beverly said neighborhood organizations like churches and food pantries have done a lot to bridge the gap while neighbors waited for FEMA to arrive.
"It increased the importance of these organizations that was here to donate when others wasn't," Beverly said.
He said his neighbors have been ready for help from FEMA to arrive.
"Sometimes we just gotta wait patiently until help arrives," Beverly said.
That help — coming from people like Shedd.
He said to be on the look out for communication from FEMA if you have already applied.
If you got a notice saying help isn't available for you at this time, Shedd said to make sure to read the whole letter.
"It'll go on to explain how you can get back on track with that. It'll talk about here are the documents you can submit, here's how to submit those documents," Shedd said. "I think a lot of people when they see these letters that say we can't help you at this time, they take that as a final answer. I think it's important that people understand that it's not the end of the road."
If you still need help with the application process or have questions for FEMA, their team tells me disaster resource centers are on their way to different areas impacted by the tornadoes.
We will update you as soon as those are up and running.
