Calling Aid Offered to Impaired Applicants with Disaster Damages
Release Date: April 14, 2005
Release Number: 1539-430
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- People with speech or hearing impairments who suffered damages in Florida's Fall hurricanes need not worry. Help is as close as a phone call, thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) special TTY telephone service.
The special line-- 1-800-462-7585-- operates 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday. Callers reach an operator using a text line and need to have their disaster application number available when they call. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish.
If the call is not answered, callers are urged to leave a message, and the call will be returned as soon as possible.
"Available call-in hours have recently been changed," said Craig Fugate, Florida's state coordinating officer for the State Emergency Response Team (SERT), "and we want to assure those who have already filed an application that they will continue to have a place to call with any of their questions."
"We urge all applicants with speech and/or hearing impairments to continue to use our special communications facilities to get answers to their questions," said Bill Carwile, coordinating officer for FEMA.
To use a TTY telephone, a caller dials a number and then uses a telephone keypad to spell out their message that appears on a small screen on the phone, similar to caller identification on a regular phone. A caller without a text machine can call the Florida Relay Center at one of the following numbers:
1-800-955-8771 (TTY)
1-800-955-1339 "
1-800-955-8770 "
1-800-955-8260 "
1-877-955-8773 for Spanish
1-877-995-8707 for French
1-877-955-5334 for speech-to-speech impaired
The State Emergency Response Team (SERT) is a collaboration of Florida's state agencies led by the state coordinating officer. SERT's mission is to ensure that Florida is prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from them, and mitigate their impacts. Visit www.floridadisaster.org for the latest information on the hurricane relief efforts.
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: Thursday, 14-Apr-2005 10:20:56