Temporary Housing Help Available from FEMA for Displaced Survivors

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippians whose homes were destroyed or made unlivable by the recent storms and flooding can turn to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance.

FEMA and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, as well as local communities, are committed to helping survivors find options for safe housing following the disaster that began March 9. FEMA also wants to help survivors return to their homes.

Those who are unable to remain in their homes made unsafe, unlivable or inaccessible by the disaster, can contact FEMA for assistance in finding temporary housing. Financial assistance for renting temporary housing is available for eligible survivors.

To be considered eligible, survivors first must register with FEMA online at DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling FEMA’s Helpline (voice, 711 or relay service) at 800-621-3362. (TTY users should call 800-462-7585.) The toll-free lines are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

Other eligibility requirements include:

• Proof that the primary residence is unsafe, unlivable or uninhabitable and within the disaster-designated county;

• Insured survivors must have filed for insurance benefits and found that the damage to the property is not covered by insurance, the insurance settlement is insufficient or the settlement has not yet been received.

• Damage must have occurred between March 9 and 29, 2016.

FEMA rental assistance is temporary and is not designed to be a permanent housing option. Rental assistance serves as a bridge until survivors secure permanent housing.

The U.S. Small Business Administration can provide long-term rebuilding assistance in the form of low-interest disaster loans to qualified individuals in their recovery.

Businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters may obtain information on SBA disaster loan applications by calling 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the hard of hearing) or by visiting SBA.gov. Survivors may also apply for disaster loans at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Both FEMA and SBA are prohibited by law from duplicating insurance benefits. But, if the survivor’s insurance falls short of meeting the need, the survivor may be eligible for help from either or both agencies.

For more information on Mississippi’s disaster recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster4268 and 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.