FEDERAL RELIEF AVAILABLE FOR WORKERS HIT HARD BY AREA CROP FREEZE.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Farm and packaging house employees who lost wages when a December December: see month. freeze devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. Ventura County's citrus citrus Any of the plants that make up the genus Citrus, in the rue family, that yield pulpy fruits covered with fairly thick skins. The genus includes the lemon, lime, sweet and sour oranges, tangerine, grapefruit, citron, and shaddock (C. maxima, or C. grandis; also called pomelo). crop might now qualify for federal aid. Thursday's declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical allows hundreds of employees who lost jobs or worked reduced hours to apply for temporary housing and utilities grants, food vouchers, extended unemployment benefits and job placement services. ``It's wonderful this assistance has finally come through,'' said Laura Hernandez, assistant director of the Sheriff's Department's Office of Emergency Services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' . ``The impact of this freeze is going to be felt over time.'' Ventura County joins seven counties in the Central Valley that are eligible for federal relief. Small businesses hurt by the Dec. 20-24 freeze, which caused $74.3 million in damage, also could qualify for low-interest loans. FEMA's decision comes a month after the Board of Supervisors opted to seek relief, despite county Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail's prediction that the amount of crop damage was not severe enough to qualify for aid. Utilities grants, food vouchers and job placement services are available at the Disaster Service Center at 761 South C St. in Oxnard. Workers in need of extended rental or mortgage assistance should call (800) 745-0243. All unemployment compensation is distributed through state Employment Development Department offices. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion