Federal/State Disaster Assistance Reaches $374 Million
Release Date: November 3, 2001
Release Number: 1391-40
» More Information on New York Terrorist Attack
New York, NY -- State/federal grants and loans totaling $101 million have been approved for people who sustained damages to their homes and personal property from the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition, more than $273 million in federal funds has been released to reimburse the city for costs associated with immediate response and recovery activities and the removal, transport, and sorting of debris at the World Trade Center (WTC) site.
According to officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the total amount for both individual and infrastructure assistance is $374 million.
"Our partnerships with the state and city of New York have allowed us to move forward in helping thousands of people affected by the Sept. 11 attacks," said FEMA's Federal Coordinating Officer Ted Monette. "Our goal is to get people back on the road to recovery as quickly as possible, despite the tremendous challenges faced."
"Just one phone call gets people registered into the system for many of the federal and state assistance programs," said State Coordinating Officer Edward F. Jacoby, Jr. "Operators can also provide information and referrals to programs, resources, and services offered by other agencies and voluntary organizations."
Affected residents and business owners in the designated counties may apply for assistance by calling FEMA's toll-free registration number, 1-800-462-9029, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Those with a speech- or hearing-impairment may call TTY 1-800-462-7585. Translation services are available to accommodate the needs of all language groups.
Response and Recovery efforts as of Nov. 1, 2001
- To date, 35,000 people affected by the attack have registered with FEMA for state and federal disaster assistance. More than 600 new applications are being taken daily.
- The New York State Crime Victims Board has received 3,347 applications for assistance to defray the cost of medical bills, counseling, funeral expenses, or lost earnings due to injury or loss of life from the attacks. The toll-free number is 1-800-247-8035(TTY:
1-888-289-9747).
- More than $100 million in Individual Assistance has been approved in the form of grants and loans. This includes temporary disaster housing assistance, Mortgage and Rental Assistance, disaster food stamps, individual and family grants, and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest loans to homeowners and businesses.
- FEMA has approved nearly $16 million in disaster housing assistance grants for individuals and families to obtain alternate rental housing or to clean up residences made uninhabitable by the attack. Mortgage and Rental Assistance is a grant from FEMA and does not have to be paid back.
- Persons left unemployed by the disaster have filed more than 6,000 claims for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) with the New York State Department of Labor Telephone Claims Line,1-888-209-8124. This program provides assistance to workers and business owners out of work because of the disaster as well as self-employed persons not normally covered by unemployment programs. The closing date for filing DUA claims has been extended to Nov. 16.
- More than $3 million in disaster food stamps has been distributed to 28,173 individuals (or 10,827 households) who lost food, income or resources because of the attacks. The deadline to apply for the food stamp program was Oct. 31, 2001. However, those who have visited the Disaster Assistance Service Center (DASC) and made appointments will still be eligible.
- The state of New York has approved more than $642,000 for individual and family grants for disaster victims to meet serious disaster-related needs not covered by other disaster assistance programs or insurance.
- Crisis counseling grants in excess of $22.7 million have been committed to the state's mental health services network to provide counseling to victims of the attack and their families.
- SBA has approved more than $85 million in low-interest loans to 926 applicants for home repairs, business loans, and loans to assist small businesses suffering economic injury as a result of losses caused by the disaster.
- Nearly 14,000 people have visited the DASC at 141 Worth St. in Lower Manhattan to consult with representatives from state, federal, city and voluntary agencies on disaster assistance programs and to have questions answered about their applications. Representatives have provided information in 17 different languages. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- FEMA's toll-free Helpline has received nearly 18,000 calls from persons applying for additional assistance, inquiring about the status of their application or seeking information about recovery programs. The Helpline number is1-800-525-0321(TTY:
1-800-462-7585).
- FEMA currently has 590 personnel are working at the Disaster Field Office in New York.
- There are Community Relations teams conducting outreach throughout the five New York City boroughs, visiting the community boards throughout the city and supporting the DASC to provide information about disaster assistance.
- FEMA's Speakers Bureau coordinated speakers for more than 77 meetings with an estimated attendance of at least 15,000 people. More than 29 additional meetings are scheduled. Attendees are community members, economic development organizations, local political groups, and building owners and managers.
Voluntary Agencies:
- The American Red Cross (ARC) has committed more than $300 million for on-going disaster relief, having assisted nearly 24,000 families who were displaced, injured or unemployed in the disaster-affected areas with food, lodging, clean-up and recovery.
Through the organization's $100 million Gift Program that covers immediate needs of individuals who lost loved ones, more than $38 million has been dispersed to 2,581 families with the average gift being $15,000.
The Red Cross has also provided emotional support for almost 14,000 people and served more than 9.6 million meals. More than 30,350 ARC workers have been assigned to the WTC relief effort. - To date, more than 11,100 Salvation Army volunteers have served 1.5 million meals around the New York City area and at Ground Zero. The Salvation Army has also handled 57,000 mental health and social services cases at the DASC.
- As of Oct. 26, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has cleaned more than 200 apartments.
- Tepeyac, a network of NYC organizations providing services to displaced and undocumented workers, has taken a leadership role in providing advocacy, legal and financial services to 3,095 dislocated workers, 44 percent of whom are undocumented.
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
To date, the FEMA Public Assistance program has approved $273 million to help state and local governments recover. The Public Assistance program provides federal grants for the reimbursement of debris removal, emergency protective measures and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities and certain private not-for-profit facilities.
FEMA and the New York State Emergency Management Office work as partners to deliver the Public Assistance program. FEMA provides Public Assistance grants directly to the state. The state, in turn, reimburses eligible applicants as sub-grantees. Normally, the federal share of total eligible costs is 75 percent with the state and local government providing 25 percent. However, on this disaster, FEMA will provide 100 percent of the total eligible costs under the Public Assistance Program.
All five boroughs of New York City and all counties in the state of New York were designated eligible for Public Assistance.
FEMA-FUNDED ASSISTANCE THROUGH OTHER AGENCIES
- FEMA has funded more than $157 million through other agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Department of Health and Human Services, and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) to assist in the response effort.
- USACE continues to provide technical assistance to the debris removal operation. More than 469,322 thousand tons of debris have been removed to the Staten Island landfill. The USACE dredging mission that removed almost 59,300 cubic yards of material from around Pier 6 has been completed.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing assistance with collecting, staging and disposal of hazardous materials at Ground Zero.
- Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) have treated a total of 8,853 patients since Sept. 11.
- FEMA's USAR Task Force mobilized a total of 1,260 personnel to the WTC site. Twenty teams from 13 states assisted fire and police personnel in searching for victims in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the WTC towers. USAR teams were activated from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington. The first wave of USAR teams were activated on Sept. 11 and the last one was released on Oct. 7.
Last Modified: Monday, 06-Oct-2003 13:16:19