FORKS – The Federal Emergency Management Agency has opened a temporary Disaster Recovery Center in Forks.

The FEMA office will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week until further notice, said Wali Armstead, spokesman for the agency, in the new Community Center, 91 Maple St.

No such center is planned for Jefferson County, although one will open if state emergency management authorities request it, he said.

The Forks center also will offer the services of the Red Cross and the Small Business Administration.

“We try to make it a clearinghouse of information,” Armstead said.

FEMA may authorize up to $28,000 per household for damage not covered by private insurance or charitable agencies, Armstead said.

Payments are limited to damage to things “vital to your living,” Armstead said.

For example, he explained, damage to a bedroom would be covered, but damage to a garden shed would not.