FEMA opened 41 disaster centers shortly after Hurricane Wilma struck in late October. Federal officials helped residents fill out stacks of paperwork to qualify for loans, rent assistance and other monetary aid. More than 135-thousand Floridians got a total of 290-million dollars. Florida FEMA spokeswoman Denise Everhart says three months later, the demand isn’t there.

“There aren’t enough people coming into these disaster recovery centers to justify the manpower and the time and with the deadline ending, there won’t be people coming to register. So it is time to close them.”

Disaster recovery centers in Collier County will begin to shut their doors this Friday. In Lee County, they’ll close on January 18th. The final day to apply for federal assistance is a week from Thursday.