St. Clair County — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be shutting down its Ashville and Moody operations centers in the county Saturday.

“It’s something that happens in every disaster when the need declines,” said Nathan Custer, FEMA Public Information Officer for this area.

The St. Clair locations are two of six centers closing in central Alabama. FEMA centers are still open are in high traffic areas such as Madison County and the city of Cullman.

“These decisions are not necessarily tied into the registration deadline,” Custer noted. “It’s based on the traffic and registrations in the locations. These decisions are made in conjunctions with the state. We don’t arbitrarily choose to close (locations). The state chooses.”

Those in the county have until Monday to file their paperwork with FEMA if they want disaster relief.

There have been 1,809 FEMA registrations for St. Clair County. Money approved by FEMA for disaster relief totals more than $1.75 million in this county alone.

The Greensport Baptist Church center in Ashville opened May 5. As of June 18, 511 people had visited FEMA resources there.

Moody’s FEMA center opened May 11 and had 624 visitors through this past Saturday night.

Deadline for disaster relief Monday

Time is quickly running out for St. Clair County tornado and storm-damage survivors to receive federal disaster assistance in the wake of the storm.

Monday is the deadline to register with the FEMA and to submit the accompanying U. S. Small Business Administration disaster loan application. Any person or business owner who had storm-related damage to their home, vehicle, personal property, business or inventory between April 15 and May 31 needs to do so before the deadline.

Assistance may include rental payments for temporary housing if homes are unlivable, grants for home repairs and replacement of essential items not covered by insurance, grants to replace personal property and help with medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other needs not covered by insurance or other charitable aid programs.

To register, or for more information about recovery programs can contact FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., or visit www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or through a smartphone or tablet at m.fema.gov. Survivors can also visit a disaster recovery center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Disaster Relief Centers are set up at Greensport Baptist Church , 92060 Shoal Creek Rd., Ashville; and at the Moody City Hall, 670 Park Ave., Moody.