Helping Hurricane Isaac Survivors Find Copies of Lost Records for Disaster Recovery

BATON ROUGE, La. – Recovering from a disaster can be a daunting experience, and it can be even more overwhelming when you have lost important records needed for your disaster recovery.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers the following contact information for Louisianians who have to replace important documents that may be required for identification purposes or to show proof of occupancy, such as birth certificates, social security cards, drivers’ licenses, state-issued identification cards, tax bills, deeds, mortgage payment receipts, insurance policies or utility bills:

• Louisiana Vital Records: For birth, death, marriage or other vital records call the Vital Statistics Records Office at 1-504-593-5100, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or visit http://www.vitalrec.com/la.html for more information.

• Drivers’ license and/or state-issued identification card: Call the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles at 1-225-925-6146, Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or visit http://www.expresslane.org/.

• Social Security card: Call the U.S. Social Security office at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or visit http://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber for more information.

• Federal tax records: Call the Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-829-1040, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or visit http://www.irs.gov for more information.

• Real and personal property tax records: Visit the Louisiana Assessor and Property Tax Records Search Directory at http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/Louisiana-Assessor-and-Property-Tax-Records.htm.

You also can call your local utility company, financial institution or insurance provider and speak with the customer service unit for copies of your most recent records. The utility company should have your most recent utility bill; your bank, credit union or savings and loan should provide you with copies of your bank statements, loan applications and mortgage payment receipts; and your insurance company should have your insurance policies, recent billing statements and cash-value statements.

Survivors can register online at www.disasterassistance.gov or via smartphone at m.fema.gov. They may also call 1-800-621-3362 or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585. Those who use 711 Relay or Video Relay Services may call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers are open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

HELPING HURRICANE ISAAC SURVIVORS FIND COPIES OF LOST RECORDS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY

For more information on Louisiana disaster recovery, click www.fema.gov/disaster/4080 or www.gohsep.la.gov. You can follow FEMA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA. Also visit our blog at www.fema.gov/blog.