Applicant Service Program Specialist Cherita Bloodwirth works in Charleston, W.Va., on Sept. 23 with FEMA Enhanced Applicant Services making follow-up calls to survivors of the June 14-15 floods that ravaged Marion and Ohio counties in West Virginia. (Photo Courtesy of Philip Maramba/FEMA)

WHEELING — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s physical presence in Ohio County is gone. FEMA packed up from its Disaster Recovery Center at the Triadelphia Community Center on Sept. 19. The deadline to apply for individual disaster recovery also passed on Sept. 22.

Yet FEMA’s work for Ohio County flood victims is ongoing. The process to provide aid has just begun, and there are now opportunities for government agencies to receive aid — as well as opportunities for individual aid recipients to get more.

According to FEMA Assistant External Affairs Officer Philip Maramba, the next step for individual applicants is hearing from the agency’s enhanced applicant services. FEMA representatives will call applicants to ask them how the process is going for them. If everything is smooth, great. If there are any snags, or if the applicant was rejected, the representatives can see what might be wrong.

“I always call them our unsung heroes,” Maramba said. “They all sit in an office, probably about a dozen of them, just making phone calls to every applicant.”

Many times, Maramba said, the problem is a clerical error that’s easily fixed. Such issues could lead to more money for applicants who have been approved for aid. Maramba said that, of the $10 million in federal individual aid approved for victims in Ohio and Marion counties, $2 million has come from the follow-up calls.

Of the $10 million in aid already distributed, Maramba said $6.6 million has gone to Ohio County victims.

Maramba also said residents who believed they applied for aid but haven’t received a letter from FEMA should call the FEMA help line at 800-621-3332 to inquire about it. Some people might have filled out a Survey 123 form or had a FEMA representative do a damage assessment at their home and mistakenly believed that’s all they needed to do to apply for aid.

If someone who mistakenly believes they applied for aid talks to a FEMA representative, they could be allowed to apply even after the deadline has passed.

It is also government and nonprofits’ turn to apply for aid through FEMA’s public assistance programwhich helps local governments recoup resources either expended or lost. So towns can get money to repair damaged buildings or parks, or be reimbursed for overtime spent helping victims and cleaning up.

It’s also available for houses of worship and other nonprofits, Maramba said.

“That’s if they provide a community service like a food bank or something like that,” Maramba said. “We’re really trying to ramp that up.”

The deadline to apply for public assistance is Oct. 11.