FEMA To Contact Up To 2.2 Million Applicants Affected By Court Order Directing Release Of Personal Information
FEMA is launching an effort to contact up to 2.2 million applicants for federal disaster assistance to inform them that a federal appellate court ruling requires FEMA to release certain personally identifiable information. This information would normally be protected under the Privacy Act and the exemption for personal privacy under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). (Read More) (En Español)
FEMA Contacting 104,000 Ohio Disaster Applicants About Court Order To Release Personal Information
More Information:
Court Documents:
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Sun-Sentinel Final Judgment (PDF 174KB)
Note: If you have difficulty reading this document please call FEMA Public Affairs at 202-646-4600.
Background:
The order affects up to 2.2 million persons in eight states who applied for federal assistance in connection with disasters that include hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in Florida in 2004 and 27 additional Presidentially declared disasters. (PDF 226KB, TXT 8KB)
Questions and Answers
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What does the FOIA Ruling require FEMA to do? Why and to whom is this information being provided?
As a result of the recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) court case News-Press v. DHS/FEMA, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered FEMA to release the following:
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The addresses of those individuals who applied for disaster assistance from FEMA following the 2004 Florida hurricanes and those who filed flood insurance claims under the National Flood Insurance Program for the 2004 hurricanes in Florida to The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla., the Pensacola News Journal, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
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The addresses of those individuals who applied for disaster assistance from FEMA between 1998 and 2004 to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; and,
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The addresses of those individuals who filed flood insurance claims under the National Flood Insurance Program following the 2004 Florida hurricanes.
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This information is normally protected under the Privacy Act and the FOIA exemption for personal privacy. FEMA is not releasing names or any other personal information such as Social Security numbers or bank account numbers, addresses.
The court made its decision to release applicants addresses based on the unique circumstances surrounding the 2004 Florida hurricanes, and determined that the public interest in FEMA's disbursement of disaster aid in those circumstances outweighed the privacy interest of the individuals. FEMA will comply with the court order.
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How many applicants does this court decision affect?
This court decision affects hundreds of thousands of households. It includes the release of information from more that two million FEMA applications.
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What disasters are covered by this court decision?
This court decision affects 31 disasters in eight states between 1998 and 2004. The specific disaster events covered under the ruling include hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004; Hurricane Isabel in 2003; Hurricane Floyd in 1999; Hurricane George in 1998; and 24 other major disasters. The states involved are Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The following chart lists the disasters affected by the ruling:
State Disaster Number Date Title Alabama
1250
09/30/1998
Hurricane Georges
1438*
10/09/2002
Tropical Storm Isidore
1466
05/12/2003
Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding
1549
09/15/2004
Hurricane Ivan
California
1203
02/09/1998
Severe Winter Storms and Flooding
1498
10/27/2003
Wildfires
Florida
1204
02/12/1998
Severe Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Flooding
1306
10/20/1999
Hurricane Irene
1345
10/04/2000
Heavy Rains And Flooding
1460
04/25/2003
Tornado
1539
08/13/2004
Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie
1545
09/04/2004
Hurricane Frances
1551
09/16/2004
Hurricane Ivan
1561
09/26/2004
Hurricane Jeanne
Louisiana
1246
09/23/1998
Tropical Storm Frances and Hurricane Georges
1435
09/27/2002
Tropical Storm Isidore
1437
10/03/2002
Hurricane Lili
1548
09/15/2004
Hurricane Ivan
Michigan
1346
10/17/2000
Severe Storms And Flooding
1527
06/30/2004
Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding
North Carolina
1240
08/27/1998
Hurricane Bonnie
1292
09/16/1999
Hurricane Floyd & Irene
1490
09/18/2003
Hurricane Isabel
1546
09/10/2004
Tropical Storm Frances
1553
09/18/2004
Hurricane Ivan
Ohio
1444
11/18/2002
Severe Storms and Tornadoes
1484
08/01/2003
Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, and High Winds
1519
06/03/2004
Severe Storms and Flooding
Wisconsin
1238
08/12/1998
Wisconsin Severe Storms and Flooding
1332
06/23/2000
Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding
1526
06/18/2004
Severe Storms and Flooding
* No Individual Assistance declaration for this disaster.
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When and how is FEMA notifying applicants that their information is being released?
Beginning the first week of August, FEMA is launching an effort to contact affected applicants. FEMA will mail a letter to the last known address and FEMA will call the last known phone number in an applicant's file.
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If I applied for federal assistance following more than one disaster, will I be contacted multiple times?
Yes, FEMA will notify each applicant for each disaster. If you applied for assistance in more than one of the designated disasters covered under this court ruling, you will be contacted more than once.
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Will this type of applicant information be released for other disasters, including future disasters?
No, FEMA will continue to protect personally identifiable applicant information in the future under both FOIA and the Privacy Act.
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Will this information released in connection with the FOIA ruling be made available to other requesters?
Yes. Although this information is typically protected by the Privacy Act and the FOIA exemption for personal privacy, once FEMA releases this information to the media organizations in Florida, the agency will be required under the FOIA law, “release to one, release to all,” to provide the same information to subsequent FOIA requesters.
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Will news organizations be able to contact me directly as a result of this release of information?
Yes. FEMA is being required to release the addresses of the applicants’ disaster-damaged homes. However, if the news organizations match the addresses with the detailed information previously released under the FOIA, they will have considerable information about the individual applicant, such as the amount of assistance provided and the status of their insurance claims.
Additional Resources (these documents are only available in English):
Note: If you are having trouble viewing these documents in other languages, please call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) for Spanish press option #2 and for interpretation services press option #3.
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Adobe Acrobat (PDF)Last Modified: Monday, 10-Sep-2007 15:26:43 EDT