Florida Panhandle Survivors Urged to Stay in Touch with FEMA

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Florida Panhandle survivors who have registered for disaster assistance are urged to stay in touch with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and keep their contact information current throughout the recovery process.

If survivors change their addresses, telephone numbers, bank accounts or insurance information, they should update that information with FEMA.

Everyone who applies for disaster assistance will receive a letter that explains FEMA’s decision, what to do next if they disagree with the decision and how grant money should be spent. Applicants should not be discouraged if they receive a letter indicating they are ineligible. FEMA may simply need additional information or documentation.

Those who need to update their contact information or have questions about a letter they receive can call the toll-free FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585, or they can visit a disaster recovery center. To find the nearest center, go to FEMA.gov/DRCLocator.

The state and FEMA have made it a priority to reach out to everyone who needs help – including people with disabilities and/or access and functional needs, senior citizens and people with limited English proficiency – and to make sure all survivor needs are met after the storms and flooding.

To achieve this goal, disaster recovery centers provide assistive listening devices, amplified phones and caption phones for survivors who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as access to Video Relay Services and Video Remote Interpreters. Magnifying devices and printed information in multiple languages, Braille and large print are also available.

If an American Sign Language or Signed English interpreter is needed, arrangements can be made at disaster recovery centers to meet a survivor’s specific needs.

Multilingual telephone operators are available to help survivors register for disaster assistance and to get their questions answered. Survivors can call FEMA’s helpline at 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585. Lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. central time, seven days a week.

Survivors can register online at DisasterAssistance.gov or on their smartphone at m.fema.gov/. Spanish-speakers can go to DisasterAssistance.gov/es or m.fema.gov/es.

Florida recovery updates are available in Spanish online at www.fema.gov/es or by following @FEMAespanol on Twitter.

For more information on Florida disaster recovery, survivors can visit fema.gov/disaster/4177, the Florida Division of Emergency Management website at FloridaDisaster.org or the state’s Facebook page at facebook.com/FloridaSERT.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

FEMA’s temporary housing assistance and grants for childcare, medical, dental expenses and/or funeral expenses do not require individuals to apply for an SBA loan. However, those who receive SBA loan applications must submit them to SBA to be eligible for assistance that covers personal property, transportation, vehicle repair or replacement, and moving and storage expenses.