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FEMA’s ‘Help After a Disaster’ Guide Available in PDF in Many Languages

AUSTIN, Texas – Texans affected by the April storms and flooding can get their questions answered in many languages by accessing the FEMA booklet “Help After a Disaster: Applicant’s Guide to the Individuals & Households Program.”

The guide provides information on the types of assistance available and how survivors in the disaster-impacted area might qualify for housing assistance and other grants and essential needs. It also explains the types of eligible losses covered by the program and information about insurance settlements and uninsured, disaster‐related necessary expenses. Applicants must meet specific eligibility requirements to qualify for help.

The guide, fema.gov/help-after-disaster, is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Vietnamese, Chinese and many other languages.

In Texas, federal disaster assistance is available to residents of Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Grimes, Harris, Parker, Waller and Wharton counties who suffered damage from the April 17-24 storms.

Survivors in the affected counties are urged to register for assistance the following ways:

online at DisasterAssistance.gov;
phone (voice, 711 or video relay service) 800-621-3362 (FEMA), TTY 800-462-7585. Toll-free lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.
by visiting any disaster recovery center in the disaster-impacted counties.

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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.

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FEMA’s ‘Help After a Disaster’ Guide Available in PDF in Many Languages

Immediate Threat

Main Content

Appeal Brief | Appeal Letter | Appeal Analysis | Back

Second Appeal Brief

FEMA-4022-DR
PA ID# 003-08425-00; Town of Bennington
PW ID# 3094; Immediate Threat
09/15/2015

Conclusion: Sediment reworking and bank armoring are ineligible for funding as emergency protective measures because the work went beyond that which was required to lessen or eliminate immediate threats to nearby improved property.

Summary Paragraph

The Applicant is appealing FEMA’s determination in Project Worksheet (PW) 3094 that bank armoring, sediment reworking, and associated construction mobilization and engineering costs were ineligible for PA funding as emergency protective measures. Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Irene (“Irene”) deposited large quantities of debris and sediment along the Roaring Branch of the Walloomsac River causing flooding, bank erosion, redirected flow, and compromised channel capacity. The Applicant requested about $3.5 million for debris removal, bank armoring, and sediment reworking as emergency protective measures. FEMA determined that sediment reworking and bank armoring were ineligible for funding as emergency protective measures because the work exceeded that which was necessary to lessen or eliminate immediate threats. On first appeal, the Applicant contended that bank armoring and sediment reworking were essential to reduce immediate threats. The FEMA Region I Regional Administrator found that bank armoring and sediment reworking were ineligible for funding both as emergency protective measures and as permanent work. On second appeal, the Applicant maintains that sediment reworking and bank armoring were performed to reduce immediate threats. FEMA subsequently requested that the Applicant provide additional support that the damage was directly caused by the declared disaster, given the occurrence of subsequent Tropical Storm Lee shortly after Irene, the work performed reduced immediate threats, including characterization of the 5-year flood event on Roaring Branch, and predisaster design and maintenance records for the armored banks. The Applicant provided documents stating that (1) the damage was directly related to Irene and distinguished the work from that previously identified in a river corridor plan, (2) the work lessened immediate threats to nearby property from a 5-year flood event and Lee was only a 4.6-year flood event, and (3) prior bank armoring was not engineered. On April 3, 2015, the Applicant presented the information at Headquarters.

Authorities Discussed

Stafford Act § 403(a)(3)(I); § 403(c)(6)(B).
44 CFR § 206.201(b).
44 CFR § 206.221(c).
44 CFR § 206.225(a)(3).
Public Assistance Guide, FEMA 322, at 66; 71 (June 2007).

Headnotes

Stafford Act § 403(a)(3)(I) permits FEMAto provide essential assistance to reduce immediate threats to life, property, and public health and safety.
44 C.F.R. § 206.201(b) defines emergency work as work done immediately following a disaster to save lives and protect improved property, public health, and safety.
To be eligible, emergency protective measures must eliminate or lessen immediate threats to lives, public health or safety, or threats of significant additional damage to improved public or private property through cost effective measures. 44 C.F.R. § 206.225(a)(3), 44 C.F.R. § 206.221(c) and the PA Guide define an immediate threat as the threat of additional damage from an event which can reasonably be expected to occur within five years.
- Rather than carrying out the approved scope of work to remove debris necessary to eliminate the immediate threat, the Applicant permanently engineered an unimproved river channel to address longstanding issues associated with being located in an alluvial fan.

Source:

Immediate Threat

Debris Removal

Main Content

Appeal Brief | Appeal Letter | Appeal Analysis | Back

Second Appeal Brief

FEMA-1539
PA ID# 117-38425-00; City of Lake Mary
PW ID# 192 and 7156; Debris Removal
08/31/2015

Conclusion: The City of Lake Mary (Applicant) did not file its appeal within the 60-day regulatory timeframe as required by 44 C.F.R. § 206.206(c). Timeliness aside, the Applicant has not demonstrated, pursuant to 44 C.F.R. §§ 206.223(a)(3) and 206.224(a)-(b) and eligibility requirements within FEMA Disaster-Specific Guidance #8, Debris Removal from Roadways in Private or Gated Communities and the PA Guide, that work performed to remove disaster-related debris from private roads was eligible under the Public Assistance Program.

Summary Paragraph

FEMA prepared Project Worksheets (PWs) 192 and 7156 to document contract work to remove, reduce and dispose of debris deposited by Hurricane Charley throughout the City of Lake Mary (City). FEMA deducted $102,366.80 in costs from PW 192 on the basis that the Applicant failed to demonstrate legal responsibility for 5,118.34 cubic yards of debris removed from private property. The Applicant appealed FEMA’s deobligation and asserted that the provisions of its solid waste ordinance require the City to provide waste removal services at prescribed rates to all residents, and as a result, endow it, solely, with legal responsibility for the removal of all waste, including disaster-generated debris from private property. Moreover, the Applicant contended that previous FEMA second appeal determinations validated using a local government’s solid waste ordinance as a means to establish legal responsibility for disaster-debris removed from private property. The FEMA Region IV Regional Administrator denied the appeal, concluding that (1) the Applicant did not submit its appeal within the 60-day period pursuant to 44 C.F.R. § 206.206(c), and (2) a service agreement providing for routine yet limited, waste removal does not convey legal responsibility for private property debris removal.

Authorities and Second Appeals

Stafford Act § 423.
44 C
44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(3).
44 C.F.R. § 206.224(a)-(b).
FEMA Debris Removal from Roadways in Private or Gated Communities
PA Guide, at 46.

Headnotes

Stafford Act § 423 and 44 C.F.R.

§ 206.206(c) provide statutory and regulatory timeframes for submitting appeals.
The Applicant did not submit its appeals within the 60-day timeframe.
According to 44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(3) and FEMA Disaster-Specific Guidance #8, Debris Removal from Roadways in Private or Gated Communities, an eligible applicant must be legally responsible for removing debris from private roads.
The Applicant did not sufficiently establish that it was legally responsible for removing debris from private roads.
Pursuant to44 C.F.R. § 206.224(a)-(b) and Disaster-Specific Guidance #8, Debris Removal from Roadways in Private or Gated Communities and the PA Guide, FEMA may reimburse costs associated with debris removal when it is necessary to eliminate an immediate threat provided that the Federal government is held harmless and indemnified from claims resulting from the work performed.
- The Applicant did not establish that the debris on private roads was removed to serve the community at large in eliminating an immediate threat to lives, public health and safety.
- The Applicant failed to provide written hold harmless and indemnification information as required by Disaster-Specific Guidance #8, Debris Removal from Roadways in Private or Gated Communities and the PA Guide.

Debris Removal

Eligibility

Main Content

Appeal Brief | Appeal Letter | Appeal Analysis | Back

Second Appeal Brief

FEMA- 4031
PA ID# 043-34132-00; Town of Herkimer
PW ID# 2531; Eligibility
08/17/2015

Conclusion: The Applicant did not provide sufficient information to establish that the damage to the roadway and the retaining wall was a direct result of the declared disaster.

Summary Paragraph

After severe storms and heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee, the Applicant reported that high river flows in West Canada Creek damaged the East German Street Extension. FEMA conducted a site visit and identified a 170-foot long section of the road with damage consisting of alligator cracks, stress cracks, and ground subsidence. FEMA also noted that the adjacent retaining wall did not sustain any observable damage as the result of flooding. Based on the field observations, FEMA found the road damage to be a result of pre-existing conditions and obligated PW 2531 for zero dollars. In its first appeal, the Applicant claimed that the damage was a direct result of the disaster, contending that the road and the retaining wall had no history of subsidence-related damage, and requested an estimated repair cost of $140,000. Upon review, the Regional Administrator denied the first appeal, finding that the road damage was not a direct result of the disaster. In its second appeal, the Applicant revises the funding request to a range between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and argues that all damage was a direct result of the disaster.

Authorities and Second Appeals

44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(1).
PA Guide, at 29-30.

Headnotes

44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(1) states that an item of work must be required as the result of the emergency or disaster to be eligible for Public Assistance.The PA Guide further provides that work must be required as a direct result of the declared major disaster or emergency.
The damage on East German Street Extension and the adjacent retaining wall cannot be directly tied to the declared disaster.Accordingly, all the work performed to repair the damage is ineligible for Public Assistance.
The Applicant documented that the road failure was detected at some point after the disaster, outside of the incident period.However, the Applicant did not provide any documentation demonstrating that the damage, or its underlying cause, was absent prior to the disaster, or that the damage was a direct result of the disaster.Therefore, the work required to address the damage is ineligible.

Taken from:

Eligibility

FEMA Announces Opening of Application Period for Assistance to Firefighters Grants

FEMA Announces Opening of Application Period for Assistance to Firefighters Grants

DENTON, Texas — Beginning Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, the application period for Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 will be open, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced. These types of grants can cover the costs of crucial items for firefighters and paramedics such as firefighting equipment, rescue equipment and communications equipment.

“The AFG grants are critical to the efforts to protect life and property in communities,” said FEMA Region 6 Administrator Tony Robinson. “They allow firefighters and paramedics to properly do their jobs.”

The AFG application period begins on Monday at 7 a.m. and closes on Dec. 6, 2013, at 4 p.m. The following resources are available to help guide you through the process:

FY 2013 Application Assistance Tools
• FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Available Now Program Guidance;
• FY 2013 AFG Self Evaluation Operations and Safety;
• FY 2013 AFG Get Ready Guide Application Narrative;
• FY 2013 AFG Self Evaluation Vehicle Acquisition;
• FY 2013 AFG Regional Workshop Presentation; and
• FY 2013 AFG Get Ready Guide Application Information.

Questions can be directed to the AFG Grants Help Desk at 1-866-274-0960 or firegrants@fema.dhs.gov Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. The Help Desk will be open on Friday, Dec. 6 until 4 p.m.

Additional information regarding the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program can be found at http://www.fema.gov/welcome-assistance-firefighters-grant-program.

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FEMA Announces Opening of Application Period for Assistance to Firefighters Grants