Wildfire survivors have four weeks to apply for FEMA aid
SACRAMENTO >> Individuals and households with losses due to wildfires in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Butte, Lake, Napa, San Mateo, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties, have four weeks to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA.
The deadline is Oct. 21, according to a release from the agency.
Locally, the CZU August Lighting Complex fire started Aug. 16. On Tuesday, Cal Fire announced full containment of the blaze.
The numbers tell the grisly score: 86,509 acres burned, 1,490 structures destroyed including 925 residences. More than 70,000 residents of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties were evacuated.
Santa Cruz County officials placed infrastructure damage and private property losses at an estimated $340 million.
In Monterey County, the River Fire and the Carmel Fire burned nearly 55,000 and both are 100% contained. As of Friday, the Dolan Fire in Big Sur was at 128,417 acres with 46% containment.
FEMA grants help eligible survivors pay rent, home repair/replacement and many other serious disaster-related needs, including replacement or repair of vehicles, funeral expenses, medical or dental expenses and miscellaneous other costs. To be reimbursed by FEMA, survivors should save receipts and photograph damage.
Survivors should contact their insurers and file a claim for the disaster-caused
damage before they register with FEMA. Survivors with insurance should register with FEMA even when they aren’t yet certain whether they will be eligible. FEMA may be able to help with costs that insurance doesn’t cover.
The agency can determine eligibility once an applicant’s insurance claim is settled. But if you don’t register by the Oct. 21 deadline, you will not receive any FEMA reimbursement.
FEMA does not pay insurance deductibles.
There are three ways for survivors to register: disasterassistance.gov, with the FEMA app on a smartphone or tablet, or call the FEMA Helpline, 800- 6213362 ( TTY 800- 462-7585). If you use 711 or Video Relay Service, call 800- 621-3362.
Multilingual services are
available on the helpline and specialists can answer most questions about FEMA assistance and registration.
To register you will need the following information:
• Social Security number.
• Insu r a nc e p ol ic y information.
• Address of the damaged primary dwelling.
• A description of disaster- caused damage and losses.
• Current mailing address.
• Current telephone number.
• Total household annual income.
• Routing and account number of your checking or savings account (for direct transfer of funds to your bank account).
After you register, FEMA will email you a temporary
PIN or personal identification number that you can use to create an account. The account will enable you to check the status of your application, view messages from FEMA, update your personal information and upload documents FEMA may need to determine your eligibility for grants.
If you are unable to upload your documents, mail them to FEMA at P.O. Box 10055, Hyattsv ille MD 20782-8055 or fax them to 800-827-8112.
To register
Online: disasterassistance.gov, with the FEMA app on a computer, smartphone or tablet.
Phone: Call 800- 6213362; the number for TTY is 800- 462-7585. If you use 711 or Video Relay Service, call 800- 621-3362.