As of Sept. 30, about 3,300 people have registered for local assistance at a help center set up to assist hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors. The operation started Sept. 7 to help Hurricane Katrina survivors. The majority of the 3,300 people who have registered at the center have arrived in the valley due to Hurricane Katrina. However, that figure also includes people who have registered at the center since Monday, Sept. 26, as a result of Hurricane Rita – 32 households, representing a total of 79 people as of Thursday, Sept. 29.

"We continue to receive steady numbers of survivors from the Gulf Coast hurricanes every day at the center," said Assistant Clark County Manager Darryl Martin.

The recovery center is located two blocks south of Sahara Avenue on Highland Drive at 2753 S. Highland Drive, Suite 1004. A map to the facility is posted on www.accessclarkcounty.com.  Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Clients who arrive by 4 p.m. will receive assistance, but arrivals after 4 p.m. will be asked to return the next business day.

The center is jointly operated by Clark County and the Nevada Division of Emergency Management at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). All of the Gulf Coast survivors have arrived in the valley on their own or with assistance from family, friends or others in the area.

The assistance operation was originally based at the Fertitta Community Assistance Center on Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada’s campus in downtown Las Vegas. The program quickly outgrew its space due to the volume of Hurricane Katrina survivors coming to our area. It reopened in its current location on Highland Drive on Sept. 22.

"The new site duplicates services that were under way at Catholic Charities’ Fertitta Center," said County Manager Thom Reilly. "FEMA asked us to help open a more permanent processing site because we’re seeing hundreds more evacuees here locally than anyone expected after Hurricane Katrina struck."

As of Sept. 30, Clark County had spent about $280,000 on relief efforts including $79,800 for a 3-month lease at the Highland Drive location, as well as purchase orders for a variety of equipment, supplies and contracted services. The county is eligible for 100 percent reimbursement from the federal government for costs associated with disaster relief efforts.

With the opening of the Highland site, Catholic Charities has resumed normal operations at the Fertitta Community Assistance Center, which serves as a one-stop location for providing social services to the homeless and local needy families and seniors.

"It has been our privilege to assist Clark County and many supporting agencies in this community-wide effort to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees," said Monsignor Patrick Leary, executive director of Catholic Charities. "As we have resumed our normal operations on our campus, Catholic Charities has continued to provide meals and other services for evacuees at the new disaster recovery center."

About a dozen local and state agencies are on hand at the recovery center including Clark County Social Service, the American Red Cross, United Way of Southern Nevada and other nonprofits, local housing authorities, state Mental Health Division, state welfare, Nevada Job Connect, Clark County School District and Clark County Heath District. Representatives from FEMA also are available to assist clients with FEMA registration only.

The United Way of Southern Nevada is facilitating general donation requests of goods and services. Call (702) 734-2273 for more information, or visit the agency’s website at www.uwsn.org. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is maintaining a list of local property management companies offering apartments for rent to evacuees. For more information, call (702) 366-2100.