Sunday: Meeting set to advise wildfire victims getting checks

BY SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Saturday, September 01, 2012
9/01/12 at 3:55 PM

MANNFORD — Many uninsured Creek County residents who lost everything in the August wildfires will be eligible to receive the maximum $31,400 federal grant to go towards replacing their homes and vehicles.

But the responsibility for making the best use of those dollars sits entirely at the feet of those who will be cut the check and expected to rebuild their lives with it.

For those interested in some financial advice right now, help awaits.

An area meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mannford High School Multi-Purpose Building.

“We just want to help people that are receiving a lump sum of money to get into housing and a vehicle as soon as possible,” Mannford Town Administrator Mike Nunneley said.

Many residents live paycheck to paycheck and don’t even have a checking account, Nunneley said. But some residents could actually come out in better shape than they were before, he said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant could put some residents in a position to have enough money to make a down payment on a new home through loans available with the federal Small Business Administration and American Heritage Bank in Mannford at low interest rates specifically for wildfire victims.

Officials are trying to get word out that SBA loans are not just for business owners but for homeowners and renters as well.

Eighty-five percent of wildfire victims statewide did not carry insurance, but official say that even those who were insured can sometimes qualify for the SBA low-interest loan if they were underinsured.

Read more in Sunday's World.

Associated Images:

The remains of a home destroyed in the Creek County wildfires is shown. A meeting has been set Tuesday to offer advice to property owners who are receiving lump sums from FEMA. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World