Disaster Federal Aid for Alabama Reaches More Than $38 Million

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Federal aid provided to Alabama residents affected by the April 28 through May 5 severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding has reached nearly $38 million.

The following numbers, compiled July 10, provide a snapshot of the Alabama/FEMA disaster recovery to date:

Funds approved:

• $16.2 million for Housing Assistance grants to help with recovery rental expenses and home repair costs.
• $3.9 million for Other Needs Assistance to cover essential disaster-related needs, such as medical expenses and lost personal possessions.
• $14.8 million approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration for low-interest loans to eligible homeowners, renters and businesses.
• $3 million for Public Assistance programs. Of that amount, $1.2 million has been allocated for debris removal. Another $481,300 will go toward storm response and $1.3 has been obligated for infrastructure repair and replacement.

Survivor Recovery

• 15,577 damaged homes and property have been inspected (99 percent of requests).
• 9 counties designated for Individual Assistance.
• 21 counties designated for Public Assistance.

FEMA works with many volunteer agencies and the private sector to speed the recovery effort. As of mid-May, 3,048 volunteers from numerous organizations throughout the country had donated nearly 22,000 hours to help survivors clean up debris, repair and rebuild their homes following the spring storms.

FEMA’s mitigation outreach program at nine Home Depot and Lowe’s home improvement stores provided 1,600 shoppers with information on rebuilding/repairing homes in a safer and resilient manner. Thank you letters are being presented to participating stores.

Alabama residents affected by the disaster now have just five days to register as the governor-requested extension ends Tuesday, July 15. That date also is the deadline to apply for a physical disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

No matter the degree of loss or insurance status, survivors are urged to apply for help.

• By phone, call 800-621-3362 (FEMA) from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., local time. Operators are multilingual. TTY 800-462-7585.
• By computer, go online to www.DisasterAssistance.gov.
• By smartphone or tablet, use m.fema.gov.
• For those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services, call 800-621-3362.

County-by-County approved breakdown of Individual Assistance:

Recovery officials urge all Alabama residents who have registered for assistance to stay in close contact with FEMA throughout the recovery process. This is especially true during the first weeks after registering when FEMA housing inspectors must contact applicants to view damages. Those with mobile phones should provide that number to FEMA during the registration.

Affected survivors and business owners in the nine designated counties may apply for assistance from FEMA and/or the SBA. Those counties are: Baldwin, Blount, DeKalb, Etowah, Jefferson, Lee, Limestone, Mobile and Tuscaloosa.                               

Disaster Loan Outreach Centers, operated by the SBA to assist survivors with questions about federal disaster loans, are located in Baldwin and Mobile counties. These offices are located at:

• Elberta Town Hall, 10352 Main Street, Elberta, AL 36540.
• Fairhope Civic Center (Delchamps Room), 161 North Section Street, Fairhope, AL 36532.
• Old Navy/Marine Corps Reserve Center, 4851 Museum Drive, Mobile, AL 36608.

These facilities, which also are staffed with a FEMA specialist, are open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Tuesday, July 15.

For more information, call the SBA customer service center at 800-659-2955. If you use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services (VRS), call 800-877-8339.

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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.

For more information on Alabama’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov or http://www.ema.alabama.gov/.  For the joint Facebook page, go to www.facebook.com/AlabamaEMA. To receive Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/AlabamaEMA  or www.twitter.com/femaregion4