Help Us Help You: Stay in Touch With FEMA

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continue working together to help survivors of the Butte and Valley wildfires. More and more survivors continue to find temporary housing accommodation; as they do, they should continue to stay in touch with FEMA.

FEMA’s Individual and Households Program – which includes rental assistance and Manufactured Housing Units – is intended as a temporary solution to help bridge the gap for survivors until they can find a permanent housing solution.

Wildfire survivors and their families eligible for and living in temporary housing as of Dec. 28, 2015:

• 838 households are receiving rental assistance.
• 31 households have received Manufactured Housing Units.

Additionally, 521 households have been able to remain in their homes thanks to financial assistance that pays for home repairs or to replace necessary household items so they can remain safely at home.

There are 37 households using the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which offers temporary sheltering at hotels and motels for eligible applicants until they secure alternative housing accommodations.

 As a reminder, survivors who registered for housing and other federal assistance should keep in touch with FEMA and keep their contact information current, especially if they have changed their phone number, email address or mailing address.

FEMA may need to contact survivors for a number of reasons and without current contact information, the agency will not be able to reach them. After several attempts, cases are put on hold until the survivor contacts the agency.

Applicants can track their case status and should notify FEMA if they receive insurance settlements or discover additional damage.

How to stay in touch with FEMA:

• Go to www.DisasterAssistance.gov.
• Dial the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585.
• For those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay services, call 800-621-3362.
• These toll-free numbers are operated from 6 a.m. to midnight daily.
• Multilingual phone operators are available on the FEMA Helpline. Choose Option 2 for Spanish and Option 3 for other languages.

In addition to temporary housing programs, these services remain available to survivors:

• Crisis Counseling services provided through the Calaveras and Lake County Mental Health Departments. Crisis Counseling is designed to help both children and adults cope with the emotional stress associated with a disaster. 
  • Call the Calaveras County Mental Health Crisis Hotline: 800-499-3030 (the main office number is 209-754-6525).
  • Reach the Lake County Mental Health Crisis Hotline by calling 800-900-2075.
• Disaster Legal Services (DLS) are provided to survivors free-of-charge through the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association. Legal advice is limited to cases that will not produce a fee. Services include assistance with insurance claims, advice on landlord/tenant disputes, home repair contracts and contractors, mortgage-foreclosure issues, assisting in consumer protection matters, guidance on replacement of wills and other important legal documents. Disaster Legal Services can be reached at 800-657-0479 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. For TTY, dial 711.

For more information on California’s wildfire recovery, visit: Cal OES and http://www.fema.gov/disaster/4240. Follow us on Twitter @femaregion9 and @Cal_OES and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FEMA and https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOES.

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 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.