BATON ROUGE - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Friday morning bulletin regarding its intention to enhance certain features of public assistance provided by The Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) operating at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

FEMA explained that since this DRC has two drive-thru lanes, FEMA will convert one lane into an Appeals Center to allow longer conversations with staff, while allowing the other lane to continue drive-thru operations for applicants to drop documents for their case files.

The Appeals Center features an outdoor sitting area where conversations can take place. This will allow staff to explain the appeals process, discuss documentation requirements and provide help with writing an appeal letter. More detailed explanations of the recovery process and future decisions will be possible. This Appeals Center will operate as long as the DRC is open. No appointment required.

The aforementioned expanded features of assistance will be implemented Monday, Dec. 7.

Members of the public who visit the DRC and Appeals Center should keep in mind that both operations follow strict COVID-19 guidelines.

For this reason, everyone (visitors and staff) is required to wear a mask or face covering and social distancing is practiced.

Hours of operation remain unchanged: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday.

The center is located at:

Lake Charles Civic Center

900 Lake Shore Dr.

Lake Charles, LA 70601

Additional DRCs are open in Louisiana and survivors are free to visit any center in the state.

To locate the closest center or check on the status of a DRC prior to a visit to ensure the facility is open, visit: egateway.fema.gov/ESF6/DRCLocator.

And for the latest information on Hurricane Laura, visit fema.gov/disaster/4559.