NEW YORK — Since Hurricane Sandy struck New York, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved more than $690 million to help individuals and families recover from the disaster.
FEMA is reaching out to all 13 designated counties, focusing on the hardest hit areas of New York State. Assistance to the hardest-hit areas includes:

• Bronx $1.7 million
• Kings $146.5 million
• Nassau $231.7 million
• New York $9.1 million
• Queens $176.6 million
• Richmond  $72.9 million
• Suffolk $50.3 million

FEMA provides the following snapshot of the disaster recovery effort as of November 27:

• More than 234,000 New Yorkers have contacted FEMA for information or registered for assistance with FEMA and more than $690 million has been approved. More than 119,000 people have applied through the online application site at www.disasterassistance.gov, or on their smart phone at m.fema.gov.
   
• 34 Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) are open in the affected areas. These include mobile sites as well as fixed sites, and to date nearly 57,000 survivors have been assisted at DRCs in New York.
   
• 750 inspectors in the field have completed more than 139,000 home inspections.
   
• 1,065 Community Relations (CR) specialists are strategically positioned throughout affected communities, going door-to-door explaining the types of disaster assistance available and how to register. More teams continue to arrive daily.
   
• 7 fixed feeding sites are being operated by the New York City Office of Emergency Management.   
   
• 2 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs), 1 Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), 2 Prescription Medication Task Force Team (PMTFT) and 1 National Veterinary Response Team (NVRT) from the Department of Health and Human Services remain deployed in New York.
   
• 13 New York counties are designated for both individual and public assistance, including: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester.
   
• The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $38.8 million in disaster loans to homeowners, renters and businesses. The SBA has staff members at 18 Business Recovery Centers in the New York area to provide one-on-one help to business owners seeking disaster assistance.
   
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has staff members at 16 Disaster Recovery Centers in the New York area to provide information on available housing and HUD programs.
   
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 30 On-Scene Coordinators deployed in New York who are responsible for monitoring or directing responses to all oil spills and hazardous substance releases reported to the federal government.

Individuals can register online at www.disasterassistance.gov or via smart phone at m.fema.gov.  Applicants may also call 800-621-3362. Multilingual telephone operators are available to help non-English-speaking survivors register for disaster aid and to get their questions answered.

If you have a speech disability or hearing loss and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585 directly; if you use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362. 

The toll-free telephone numbers operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week until further notice.