FEMA Helps Hurricane Ian Survivors
Jumpstart Their Recovery
More than $190 million in federal disaster
assistance has been approved for over 127,000 households damaged by Hurricane
Ian. FEMA is opening more Disaster Recovery Centers and going door-to-door to
help survivors sign up for assistance in affected communities.
How FEMA is helping Floridians:
- Residents in
Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough,
Lake, Lee, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam,
Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia counties are eligible for
individual assistance.
- Today, FEMA opened a Disaster
Recovery Center in Hardee County. Along with Disaster Survivor Assistance specialists
going door-to-door in Florida neighborhoods, there are now eight centers
operating across the state. Disaster Recovery Centers are in Charlotte,
Collier, Hardee, Orange, Osceola and Sarasota counties, with two centers
operating in Lee County. More centers are planned to open over the next
few days. Centers are accessible offices staffed by state, federal and
volunteer organizations that let everyone access recovery information. As
centers are added, real-time locations will be
updated at FloridaDisaster.org.
- FEMA will pay hotel and motel
costs for eligible survivors. FEMA and the state of Florida activated the
Transitional Shelter Assistance Program, which allows FEMA to make
payments directly to participating hotels and motels in Alabama, Florida
and Georgia that provide emergency shelter to survivors. As of today, the
program is providing housing for 350 households.
- More than 700 FEMA inspectors have performed over 24,000 home inspections
for survivors who registered for federal disaster assistance.
- The U.S. Small Business
Administration has approved $13.2 million in disaster loans to homeowners, renters and business owners.
- FEMA’s National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) is issuing advance payments to help Floridians jumpstart
their recovery. To date,
FEMA has paid more than $17.5 million to Florida policyholders.
- NFIP policyholders may receive up
to $1,000 to reimburse the purchase of
supplies like sandbags, plastic sheeting and lumber. They may also receive
up to $1,000 in storage expenses if they moved insured property.
Policyholders should file a claim for flood loss avoidance reimbursement,
regardless of if it was successful in preventing flood damage.
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance
is available to eligible survivors. Floridians should file a claim for loss of income
caused by Hurricane Ian by going to Disaster
Unemployment Assistance - FloridaJobs.org and selecting “Apply for
Hurricane Ian DUA,” visiting a local
CareerSource Career Center, or calling 800-385-3920. Customer
service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m.
to 6:30 p.m. ET.
- Thousands of federal staff are
supporting Ian response efforts. This includes over a thousand staff from
other federal agencies.
- Operation Blue Roof is processing
thousands of requests for temporary roof installations. The operation began installing roofs over the
weekend. This is a free service provided to homeowners and is currently
operating in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Lee and Sarasota counties.
Residents impacted by Hurricane Ian can sign up at BlueRoof.us or call toll-free at 1-888-ROOF-BLU
(1-888-766-3258) for more information. The call center will be open from 8
a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
- National Flood Insurance Program Florida
policyholders who had flood damage from the hurricane now have a 90-day
window to renew their policies. The extension applies to policies with
renewal dates beginning Aug. 25, through Oct. 23. Policyholders whose
policy renewal date is in this range should contact their agent or
insurance company. FEMA also extended the proof of loss requirement for
flood insurance policyholders in Florida who suffered flood damage from
Hurricane Ian from 60 to 365 days. For more information on how
to file a flood insurance claim, visit How
to Start Your Flood Insurance Claim.
- FEMA approved Critical Needs Assistance for disaster
survivors with immediate or critical needs because they are displaced from
their primary dwelling. Immediate or critical needs are life-saving and
life-sustaining items. This assistance is a one-time payment of $700 per
household.
