9/21/2017

FLORIDA COMMUNITES RECEIVE INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE SUPPORT FOLLOWING HURRICANE IRMA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – FEMA disaster recovery personnel have engaged with Floridians across the state to help them apply for federal Individual Assistance (IA) in historic numbers, resulting in over one million successful registrations to date. Through Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) and Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams (DSAT), Florida’s residents are receiving in-person, dedicated assistance that will ensure our state successfully recovers from Hurricane Irma’s impact.

As evidenced below, DRCs have received increasing numbers of visitors daily since first opening immediately following the storm’s impact. With more planned openings, DRCs are playing a significant role in helping impacted Floridians receive the assistance they need to successfully recover.

 

Disaster Recovery Centers offer in-person support to individuals and businesses recovering from disasters. Currently, there are three DRCs open in Florida. They are open at the following locations:

St. Johns County:   3111 Agricultural Center Drive St. Augustine, FL   Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

Palm Beach County:   225 NW 12th Avenue Boynton Beach, FL   Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

Hillsborough County:   6437 Watson Road Riverview, FL   Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily

 

Additionally, residents across the state have received visits from FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams (DSAT). DSATs visit disproportionately impacted communities to offer individuals in-person, case specific assistance and guidance for registering for IA and accessing available resources.

More than 500 DSATs are currently active across all 48 IA declared counties. They have visited more than 6,460 homes, interacted with more than 5,600 survivors and registered more than 3,200 survivors for IA.

DRCs and DSATs, combined with the other registration methods highlighted below, have resulted in more than one million successful IA registrations to date, while more than $336,000,000 in Federal funds have already been approved to help Florida’s residents recover from Hurricane Irma. As more Federal resources are made available following Hurricane Harvey’s recovery effort, the funds and personnel allocated to Florida will steadily increase.

Individuals can register in person at the DRC locations mentioned above, online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or through the FEMA App (available for Android, iOS and Blackberry devices).

Applicants will need the following to apply:

• Social Security Number;
• Daytime telephone number;
• Current mailing address;
• Address and zip code of the damaged property; and
• Private insurance information, if available.

By registering for federal assistance on www.DisasterAssistance.gov, you can:

• Find out if your address is in a disaster area declared for Individual Assistance.
• Check the status of your application and get updates by SMS or email.
• Upload documents to support your application.

Another option for individuals, including those who use 711 relay or VRS, is to call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) while those who use TTY can call 1-800-462-7585. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. EDT seven days a week until further notice.

When an applicant registers, they receive a unique registration number. The registration number is important and should be written down and kept handy. Anyone who does not have a registration number is not yet registered.

For more information on resources available to those affected by Hurricane Irma, please visit: www.FloridaDisaster.org/info. Follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/flsert and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FloridaSERT.