The last local Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) will close Friday at 7 p.m., but a Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Center will open Oct. 26 at the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce on Church Street in Douglasville.

The DRC, located at Heritage Baptist Church, had remained open after the center in Lithia Springs closed Oct. 16. They were operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and had been open since Sept. 26, after homes and businesses sustained damage from floods.

Residents are urged to go to the centers by Friday to meet one-on-one with specialists to get information and assistance.

“We are pleased with the pace of the recovery, but there are people who had damage from the flooding who have not registered for assistance with FEMA and time is running out for them,” said Charley English, GEMA director who is the state coordinating officer. “Registration with FEMA is an essential part of recovering from the flooding.”

The centers here and in Cobb and Gwinnett counties are the last of the DRCs. The state and federal agencies opened 16 centers around the state where damage was reported from mid-September flooding.

About 450 people were seen at the Lithia DRC, which was located at Lithia Springs United Methodist Church, according to Ricardo Zuniga, an external affairs officer for FEMA. He said the Douglasville center had experienced more foot traffic since the Lithia center closed.

Those who cannot make it to the DRC may still go online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or call FEMA at 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585. After the recovery centers close, information about claims and other assistance can be obtained by calling the FEMA number or visiting the Web site.

“Even though the Disaster Recovery Centers are transitioning to SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Centers, FEMA is still helping households in Cobb, Douglas and Gwinnett counties,” said Gracia Szczech, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer.

SBA representatives were already present at each DRC. Residents and businesses that registered with FEMA for assistance were asked to get SBA disaster loan applications and were encouraged to fill them out and return them.

Homeowners and renters unable to qualify for the SBA loan would automatically be referred back to FEMA for additional grant consideration, according to Richard Daigle, SBA communications specialist.

To be eligible for the additional grants, however, applicants must submit the SBA loan application, even if they don’t want or think they can qualify for a loan, he said.

The SBA outreach center will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.