Federal Officials Visit Texas Communities with Resources for Recovery

AUSTIN, Texas – Residents in each of the state’s disaster-affected counties can expect to see FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistance teams in their communities, offering a personal link to the resources for recovery.

FEMA officials are in the counties to meet with residents who suffered damage from severe storms and flooding April 17-24.

Using the latest mobile technology, DSA team members help survivors register for disaster assistance, update information on applications, assist with determining ongoing needs and make referrals to whole community partners.

The DSA teams are there in partnership with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and local officials. DSA team members wear FEMA attire and carry FEMA photo IDs. If the photo ID is not displayed, ask to see it.

They may request 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 receive mail; and
• Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds.

Residents in Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Grimes, Harris, Parker, Waller and Wharton counties do not have to wait until they meet with a DSA team member to register for FEMA assistance. Register with FEMA at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone (voice, 711 or video relay service) at 800-621-3362, TTY 800-462-7585. Toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week and multilingual operators are available.

Disaster assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.    

For more information on Texas recovery, visit the disaster webpage for the April storms at fema.gov/disaster/4269; or visit the Texas Division of Emergency Management website, txdps.state.tx.us/dem. Follow us on Twitter @femaregion6.

###

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.