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FEMA to close temporary Riverhead office

The temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery office set up in Riverhead to help those affected by Hurricane Irene will close Oct. 1.

The office, which was stationed at Riverhead Fire Department headquarters on Roanoke Avenue, served 84 people since it opened Sept 12, a FEMA official said Wednesday. The office has been open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday with a staff of between seven and 10. The other Suffolk County office at the H. Lee Denison building in Hauppauge will also close as well as centers in four other New York counties, according to a statement.

“We keep our disaster recovery centers open until we feel they are no longer critical in a given area,” Federal Coordinating Officer Philip E. Parr said in a statement.

FEMA officials as well as employee of the Small Business Administration, which provides low interest loan to disaster victims, were available at the center.

The centers in the upstate Essex and Ulster counties, which were hit much harder by the storms, will remain open.

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