FEMA, State Grants Will Not Affect Other Federal Benefits

RIDGELAND, Miss. – Disaster assistance for temporary housing, essential home repairs, replacement of personal property or for other serious needs does not count as taxable income.

Therefore, Mississippians affected by the severe storms and flooding who receive federal assistance will not lose Social Security or Medicare benefits, will not pay additional taxes, or give up income-based benefit programs.

As of April 18, 2016, FEMA has awarded $5.8 million in disaster assistance to Mississippians affected by the disaster that occurred from March 9 through 29 in 17 disaster-designated counties.

Eligibility for FEMA assistance is not dependent on income.

The amount of disaster assistance an applicant receives is based on the amount of eligible loss and damage incurred as a direct result of the recent storms and flooding and the amount of their insurance settlement, if any.

Survivors with questions regarding the application or the appeals process, or who need to register for assistance may visit DisasterAssistance.gov or call (voice 711 or relay service) 800-621-3362. (TTY users should call 800-462-7585.) The toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

For more information on Mississippi’s flood recovery, go to fema.gov/disaster/4268 or visit the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency site at msema.org.

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

The U.S. Small Business Administration is the federal government’s primary source of money to help business of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters rebuild and recover after a disaster. SBA low interest disaster loans repair and replace property losses not fully compensated by insurance and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.