FEMA Helpline Available
Release Date: October 28, 2005
Release Number: 1603-124
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- After undergoing the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, residents of Louisiana may not know where to turn for answers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers the FEMA Helpline for just this reason. Helping victims throughout the entire recovery process continues to be a FEMA priority.
FEMA urges disaster victims to register for assistance if they have not already done so. After registering, residents can continue to get important information by calling the same phone number. To contact the FEMA Helpline, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or log on to www.fema.gov . The TTY number is 1‑800‑462‑7585 for people who are speech- or hearing-impaired. The Helpline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until further notice. People without telephones or Internet access can use these services at any of the Disaster Recovery Centers located across the state.
It is important that residents registered with FEMA stay in touch to check their application status regularly. Registered disaster victims must provide a current address and phone number. It is also necessary to supply FEMA with contact information if there is a change in residence after initially registering.
Residents should call the Helpline to update their applications and/or to complete an application process if timed out while registering online. It is important to know that if the registration process does time out (after 30 minutes), people should not attempt to restart the process. Restarting will create a duplicate application. Duplication of a disaster aid application will slow down the assistance process.
FEMA encourages all registered disaster victims to call the FEMA Helpline to get correct information. By keeping in contact with FEMA through the Helpline, disaster victims can help to ensure the process for aid flows smoothly.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Friday, 28-Oct-2005 17:26:04