Individual Assistance Helps Hurricane Victims Recover
Release Date: September 22, 2008
Release Number: 1786-034
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in town with an array of ways to help eligible individuals and families whose lives have been impacted by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Residents in 43 parishes in Louisiana are eligible to receive Individual Assistance. What does this mean?
Housing
Right after the disaster Individual Assistance helps people who cannot live in their homes find and pay for temporary housing in a hotel, an apartment building or even in a temporary housing unit. People whose homes need just a few repairs to be made safe, sanitary and functional are given a grant to make those quick fixes, instead of giving them money to stay in temporary housing.
There is also a program for making long-term repairs to a house. FEMA cannot duplicate benefits from insurance, so this program only kicks in after the insurance company has settled. Only the most necessary repairs qualify for this type of assistance. Repairs to a guest bedroom, for example, would not qualify.
The primary source of funding for re-building residences is not FEMA's Individual Assistance program, it is a loan program run by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA's long-term, low-interest disaster loans have helped millions of victims on the road to recovery. The SBA works with disaster victims to help them design a way to pay for the loan they need to get back on their feet again.
Personal Property and Expenses
Individual Assistance also includes grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other sources. This is a program called Other Needs Assistance.
To qualify for most Other Needs Assistance, you need to have applied for an SBA loan and been turned down. Just as with a bank loan, people are turned down when they have too much debt or not enough income to be able to re-pay the loan. The SBA works harder than banks to qualify an applicant, but they can't always help. So the Other Needs Assistance program is a safety net to give people a hand in these hard times.
There is an exception to the above requirement. You don't need to apply for an SBA loan if you seek reimbursement for disaster-related medical and dental costs or for funeral and burial expenses related to the disaster.
If you do get an Other Needs Assistance grant, it could cover personal items such as bedroom or living room furniture, clothing, linens, appliances and the like. It could be used to repair or replace a damaged vehicle. It could also pay medical, dental or funeral expenses that occurred as a direct result of the disaster.
When you apply for Other Needs Assistance, your eligible damage is determined by a review of your property by an inspector. The maximum award one applicant can receive from Individual Assistance is $28,800. The purpose is not to make people whole again, just to give them a helping hand during the emergency.
To Register
If you've been impacted by Hurricane Gustav or Hurricane Ike, you need to register with FEMA for assistance. There are two ways to register. The quicker way is to register online at www.fema.gov. This is available at any time. Most libraries have computers, if you do not have Internet access right now.
The other way to register is to call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Calls can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Because of all the people needing help right now, the FEMA lines are really busy. To reduce wait time, call during night hours or on Sundays.
Applicants who had damage from both hurricanes need to register twice, once for each disaster.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Friday, 26-Sep-2008 13:52:00