Only One Week Remaining To Apply For Hurricane Dennis Assistance
60-Day Application Period Ends September 8
Release Date: August 31, 2005
Release Number: 1595-071
» More Information on Florida Hurricane Dennis
ORLANDO, Fla. - Only one week remains for Florida residents and business owners who sustained damage from Hurricane Dennis to apply for disaster assistance. The deadline to apply is Sept. 8.
"For individuals who have already applied, their cases will continue to be processed," Justin DeMello, federal coordinating officer, said. "We want people to understand that Thursday, September 8th, is merely the end of the 60-day application period, which started July 10 when President Bush issued a major disaster declaration."
Loan applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for disaster-related losses to real and personal property and businesses of all sizes must also be submitted by that date. SBA officials encourage anyone who has received a disaster loan application to turn it in as soon as possible. Failure to complete and return your SBA loan application will stop consideration for other assistance programs, including additional grants. More than 24,512 applications have been issued to homeowners and renters and 2,870 to business owners.
To date, $20.4 million in grants has been approved for 20,366 individuals impacted by Hurricane Dennis. To date, 39,335 individuals and business owners have applied for disaster assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Dennis. In addition, the SBA has approved 445 low-interest loans for $11.7 million.
Federal and state disaster recovery officials urge those who have not done so to apply as soon as possible. There are two easy ways to begin the application process. Residents may call FEMA's special toll-free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585 for those with speech or hearing impairment. Both numbers are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EDT), Monday through Friday, and multilingual operators are also available to answer your call. Residents with Internet access have the option to apply on the agency's Web site at http://www.fema.gov (upper right hand side). Valuable recovery information is also available on the Web site.
Disaster officials also stated that residents waiting for a final insurance settlement should contact the FEMA Helpline at the same numbers above if their claim is paid or for any other updates to their claim information.
Last Modified: Thursday, 01-Sep-2005 08:59:39