By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

The Beaumont and Port Arthur FEMA Disaster Relief Centers are closing due to lack of traffic. The DRC in Beaumont closed Wednesday and the FEMA DRC located at Central Mall in Port Arthur was to close at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The two sites were originally scheduled to merge into one site located in Central Mall in Port Arthur — that was the plan at the start of Wednesday — but the plan was changed later in the day after a FEMA spokeswoman said officials viewed the numbers of visitors to the locations.

“The easy answer is that people aren’t coming in to get help,” FEMA public affairs specialist Letty Garza said. “That’s the biggest reason why. We started seeing less and less people the past few weeks. As a result, we are closing the Jefferson County Central Mall location.”

The closing of the two Jefferson County locations does not mean that those who still need assistance won’t be able to receive it. Those still in need can reach FEMA by phone and by the web.

“If people still need assistance, they can call the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362. Help is also just a click away. They can go to disasterassistance.gov as well. That’s not just for individuals. You can also get assistance with businesses in those counties as well.”

The Central Mall location in Port Arthur would be open for the final time from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.