WILLIAMSON – Residents in the Gilbert Creek area saw their homes damaged by flooding late Wednesday for the second time in less that a month, county officials reported.

Wednesday’s flooding came while county officials, work crews and volunteer organizations are still recovering from flooding that occurred May 9.

The Mingo County Commission (MCC) and Office of Emergency Ser-vices (OES) urges all residents whose property was damaged during this latest round of flooding to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Resi-dents who have not registered with FEMA prior to Wednesday’s flooding should have the following information on hand when registering:

• Social Security Number (including spouse)

• Private insurance information, if available

• Address and zip code of the damaged property

• Directions to the damaged home or property

• Daytime telephone number

Residents must call FEMA’s toll free number, 1 (800) 621-3362, TTY 1 (800) 462-7585, or go online at www.fema.gov (click “apply” for assistance) before FEMA representatives will contact them.

Relief assistance is also available through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the United States Department of Agri-culture (USDA). The SBA can assist both business owners and residential customers. The deadline to apply for SBA assistance is Tuesday, July 14. For more information, call 1 (800) ASK-SBA or 1 (800) 659-2955.

The USDA is assisting with creek bank stabilization and other stream damage, along with our local soil conservation district. The deadline to apply for this assistance is Friday, June 5. For more information, call 1 (800) 823-5663.

The MCC is also requesting that residents of areas affected by both rounds of flooding report any stream blockages or choke areas to the OES as soon as possible. Commis-sioner Greg K. “Hootie” Smith said it is imperative that all of these blockages be reported as soon as possible so work can begin to have them cleared. To report a blockage or choke area, call (304) 235-8551.

Also, residents affected by Wednesday’s flooding are reminded to place all debris by the side of the road so it can be removed by the National Guard. Debris should be clear of all mailboxes, roadways and utility poles.