Press Release: Countywide Program Offers Storm Shelter Assistance

A countywide effort has been launched to help assist area residents with storm shelter rebates — thanks to a federal grant program administered by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The Pushmataha County Emergency Management is teaming up in hopes of submitting an application for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The money will be used to offer a rebate to qualified Pushmataha County residents who sign up for and are chosen for the program.

Meetings are planned for Antlers, Rattan, Clayton and Nashoba for all interested Pushmataha County residents to learn more about the program and its requirements, and provide signup forms for anyone wishing to participate.

City of Antlers Tuesday, Jan 17, 2023

• Antlers Fire Training at 1205 SW 2nd St. Antlers, 10 am – 2pm or 2pm – 8pm

City of Antlers, Thursday Jan 19, 2023

• Antlers Fire Training at 1205 SW 2nd St. Antlers, 10 am – 2pm

Town of Rattan Evening, Jan 19, 2023

• Rattan School, 4 pm -8 p.m.

Town of Clayton, January 18, 2023

• Clayton Fire Department Cherokee St. 4pm – 7pm

Community of Nashoba, Jan 18, 2023

• Nashoba Community Center 10 am – 2 pm

Any Pushmataha County resident is welcome to attend any or all of the meetings.

There are some requirements and specific criteria that must be met to qualify for the program; for instance, recipients of the rebates must own the property and it must be the primary residence. Mobile home owners must own the land where the shelter will be placed. And perhaps most importantly, the rebate will not be available to property owners who have already installed a shelter.

Details of the program and requirements will be discussed during the public meetings, said Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management’s Melissa Moore.

“The requirements to participate in the rebate program will be explained at all four planned meetings, and residents can fill out an application to participate,”

“We really need our county’s residents to turn out to these meetings and fill out an application form to show widespread interest in the program,” Delbert said.

“Filling out the application doesn’t obligate anyone to install a shelter; it just shows that we have enough interest here to qualify for the funding,” said Delbert.

Depending on the number of applicants, the recipients of the money could be chosen from a random drawing, said Moore.

“There will likely be a random drawing, if we get more applications than we have funding,” Moore said.

Once the meetings are held and all applications are collected, Delbert will work to submit the paperwork to the state for processing. An application will then be submitted for the federal funding by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The meetings and the application submission are the first steps toward launching the program, but the process could take up to a year “from start to finish,” Moore said.

For more information, please plan to attend one of the meetings set for:

City of Antlers, Tuesday January 17th, 2023

City of Antlers, Thursday January 19h, 2023

Town of Rattan Evening January 19, 2023

Town of Clayton, January 18th, 2023

Community of Nashoba, January 18th, 2023.