A disaster center will open Monday in Brookhaven to assistfamilies impacted by storms and flooding in April, federal andstate emergency management officials said Friday.

The Brookhaven disaster center will be located in the FamiliesFirst Resource Center at 511 North Church St. Another disastercenter is also opening Monday in Meridian and a third is expectedto open in Jackson in the near future.

“This is for those who’ve already made application forassistance,” said Jennifer Griffin, spokeswoman for the MississippiEmergency Management Agency (MEMA).

Twenty-eight counties have been declared eligible forassistance. Residents affected by storms and flooding in thosecounties must first apply for assistance by calling1-800-621-3362.

“That’s the first step,” Griffin said.

Griffin said the disaster centers will be open daily from 8 a.m.until 6 p.m. Representatives from MEMA and the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA) will be on hand to provide assistance tostorm victims.

“If they have questions, they can come by and get answers totheir questions,” Griffin said.

Representatives of the U.S. Small Business Administration willalso be available to assist with disaster loan applications. TheSBA disaster loan program provides low interest loans tohomeowners, renters and businesses.

Public assistance is being made available in Clarke, Hinds,Lauderdale, Lincoln, Madison, Newton, Scott, Warren and Yazoocounties. Damage to public facilities in those counties has beenestimated at $4.8 million.

Individual assistance is being made available in Amite, Attala,Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds, Holmes, Issaquena,Jasper, Jefferson, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lincoln,Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith,Walthall, Warren, Wayne and Yazoo counties.