WHEELING — Residents in several Northern Panhandle counties affected by the second round of flooding and landslides from April storms now will be able to get help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA representatives will be in the area this week to help those hit by the storms of April 11-12 in Hancock, Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel counties. Ohio County Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo said Tuesday he’ll be meeting with FEMA representatives Wednesday afternoon to get particulars about the visit.

Residents of those four panhandle counties, as well as Kanawha, Roane and Wood counties are eligible to apply for assistance from FEMA to help with costs from damage and losses caused by the April 11-12 storms.

Residents are urged to apply by Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Area residents had barely recovered from the storms of just days earlier — which led the Ohio River to crest at 41.49 feet on April 5 and flood much of Wheeling Island and other parts of the area — before another line of storms dumped more rain on the region and sent the river above flood stage again. Those storms also brought damaging landslides and other problems.

“Anybody that has any damage, even if it’s repetitive from the first storms, if they have more damage … any damage that occurred, they have a second opportunity to apply for assistance,” Vargo said. “We got hit twice within 10 days. There might have been individuals with hill slides that happened (with the second group of storms).”

Vargo said that FEMA bases its disaster declarations on individual weather events, which is why there were separate declarations with the first line of storms and the second line.

While FEMA staff will be making neighborhood visits, residents of the affected counties should also be aware of potential fraud and scams by people claiming to represent FEMA:

∫ FEMA representatives never charge a fee or ask for payment.

∫ You may receive phone calls or unexpected visits to your home from people claiming they work for FEMA. The person might ask for your Social Security number and income or banking information. FEMA representatives will have a laminated identification badge and, if you have already applied, your FEMA registration number.

∫ Protect the privacy of your nine-digit FEMA case/registration number. Legitimate FEMA representatives will only ask for the last four digits as part of the verification process; the inspector will complete the process by providing the applicant with the first four digits of the registration ID.