San Jacinto County is now designated for disaster assistance as part of Texas’s federal disaster declaration for severe storms and flooding that occurred Sept. 17-23.
Survivors of Tropical Storm Imelda may now register for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
This announcement brings the total number of counties designated for Individual Assistance to seven with the addition of San Jacinto County. Other counties previously declared are Harris, Chambers, Jefferson, Liberty, Orange and Montgomery.
State and local officials continue to assess damages to determine whether federal thresholds have been met for public assistance.
Individual Assistance for homeowners and renters may be eligible for grants to help pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs.
To register, go online to DisasterAssistance.gov, call the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362 or visit a Disaster Recovery Center. Help is available in most languages and phone lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.
Survivors who plan to register at a Disaster Recovery Center should have the following information:
- Social Security number
- Address of the damaged primary residence
- Description of the damage
- Information about insurance coverage
- A current contact telephone number
- An address where they can retrieve mail
- Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds
Low-interest disaster loans from SBA are also available to businesses, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters to cover residential and business losses as a result of the disaster. Applicants can visit a DRC for one-on-one assistance, visit http://www.sba.gov/disaster or call SBA’s customer service center at 1-800-659-2955.
They may not or they may now register?