Tell Your Neighbor about Federal Disaster Assistance 

Release Date: April 3, 2012
Release Number: 4058-019

» More Information on Indiana Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — If you suffered damage during severe storms Feb. 29-March 3, chances are your neighbor may have, too. Storm-impacted individuals should tell their neighbors about the opportunity to register for assistance with FEMA before the May 8 deadline and to return their SBA loan applications as soon as possible.

Tell your friends and neighbors about the opportunity to register with FEMA even though they have insurance. Insurance may not cover the entire cost of recovery, and a low-interest loan from the SBA may fill the gap to more fully recover from damage.

Tell others FEMA Housing Assistance in the form of grants may include rental assistance, home repairs and home replacements. Other Needs Assistance grants may be available to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs.

Tell your friends and neighbors SBA disaster loans help homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private non-profit organizations fund repair or rebuilding and cover the cost of replacing lost or damaged personal property and business assets. These loans may cover insurance deductibles, code-required upgrades and other costs not covered by insurance or other sources.

Tell your friends and neighbors if they received an SBA disaster loan application they should return it as soon as possible. If they have questions, they can contact the SBA Customer Service Center. Call (800) 659-2955 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. To apply online, visit:  
disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/. Applicants may also visit www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Emphasize to your friends and neighbors that completion of the SBA disaster loan application may open the door to FEMA grants and other forms of assistance available to eligible residents. FEMA’s temporary housing assistance and grants for medical, dental and funeral expenses do not require individuals to apply for an SBA loan. However, applicants who receive SBA disaster loan applications must submit them to SBA to be eligible for assistance covering personal property, vehicle repair or replacement and moving and storage expenses. An insurance claim does not have to be settled to complete and submit an SBA loan application.

Register with FEMA

Be sure your friends and neighbors know how to apply for FEMA assistance. One easy way to apply is to call the telephone registration line, (800) 621-FEMA (3362). For speech-or hearing-impaired applicants, the TTY number is (800) 462-7585 and Video Relay Service may be accessed at (800) 621-3362. These lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. FEMA issues a nine-digit registration number to verify completion of each application.

Registration is also possible in the following ways:

• Online at www.fema.gov or www.DisasterAssistance.gov; and
• by smart phone or tablet at m.fema.gov.

May 8 is the last day to register for assistance.

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.

Last Modified: Tuesday, 03-Apr-2012 10:52:37