Alabama is the first state impacted by Hurricane Katrina to close its recovery office.

The Alabama Emergency Management Agency, which is based in Clanton, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been working to provide the necessary assistance to facilitate the recovery process.

After four years, the FEMA Transitional Recovery Office has closed its doors in Montgomery.

“To be the first state to reach this level of recovery is a huge accomplishment,” said Alabama EMA Director Brock Long. “The closing of the TRO doesn’t mean all work related to Hurricane Katrina in Alabama has ended.

However, the vast majority of the recovery work is complete, and the FEMA team assigned to Alabama will continue to support us from their regional office in Atlanta.”

“Whenever we face disaster, Alabamians pull together to help their neighbors and communities recover. I thank the people of this state, local officials and our teams from EMA and FEMA for all they’ve done to make our recovery possible,” said Governor Bob Riley.

Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, FEMA has paid out more than $106 million of the $116 million obligated to the state of Alabama, by means of the Public Assistance Program.

The program awards grants to remove debris, demolish structures and repair and/or replace eligible infrastructures.