FEMA Continues to Support States Impacted by Sandy
More than $327 million in Individual Assistance Approved for Disaster Survivors
WASHINGTON — At the direction of President Barack Obama, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to lead the federal government’s effort to provide assistance and support to states affected by Hurricane Sandy. Federal,public, and private partners will continue to provide all available resources to support state, local, and tribal communities in affected areas.
Many voluntary agencies also continue to provide services to Hurricane Sandy survivors, including providing shelter, meals, and clean up supplies. For more information, contact your local officials or further information can be found on websites including: http://www.dhses.ny.gov/oem/ ; http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/warming_ctr.html; http://nj.gov/nj/home/features/spotlight/hurricane_sandy.shtml; http://nj211.org/hurricane.cfm and www.ct.gov/sandy
“We continue to support our state, local, and federal partners to help the survivors of Hurricane Sandy,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “FEMA has provided more than $327 million in housing and other assistance needs to impacted residents and business owners in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Survivors and small businesses can register for federal assistance by phone at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), via mobile devices at m.fema.gov or online at: www.DisasterAssistance.gov.”
Specialists from the state, FEMA and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are on hand to answer questions and provide information on the types of assistance available to survivors. To find a disaster recovery center location, check out the disaster recovery center locator at: FEMA.gov/disaster-recovery-centers or by mobile phone at m.fema.gov. You may also text DRC and a Zip Code to 43362 (4FEMA).
To date, the President has declared that major disasters exist in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island and emergency declarations have been made in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.
In addition, the following federal activities are also being coordinated:
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) electronic loan application (ELA) is the way for homeowners, renters and businesses to apply for a disaster loan for Hurricane Sandy damages in New Jersey and New York. The ELA provides a convenient alternative to visiting a Disaster Recovery Center or mailing in a paper loan application. The online program checks for errors, prompts for more information when needed and provides a quicker decision than the hand-written applications. Visit https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela to apply online. As of November 6, the SBA has issued 207,752 disaster loan applications to residents and businesses in NY, NJ and CT. That includes 165,371 home disaster loan applications, and 42,381 business disaster loan applications. SBA continues to operate Business Recovery Centers in New York and New Jersey. For more information, call the SBA Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or go to www.sba.gov.
The United State Postal Service (USPS) wants to remind customers who have evacuated or relocated due to hurricane Sandy to submit a change of address, place mail on hold or request that mail be temporarily forwarded to their new location. For the latest service updates regarding hurricane Sandy, call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777).
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has distributed an initial $5.3 million to 11 states affected by Hurricane Sandy. NRCS provides this funding through its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is allowing flexibility to New York City Public School District to serve all meals free through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for the month of November. FNS has also approved New Jersey’s request to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP- formerly Food Stamps) recipients that reside in Atlantic County, Bergen County, Cape May County, Essex County, Hudson County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, Somerset County and Union County,( all of which have received individual assistance declarations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to be allowed to purchase hot foods and hot food products with SNAP benefits through the end of the month.
The Department of Defense (DoD) remains fully engaged and focused on providing unique capabilities to support civilian efforts to restore power to vital facilities and to assist with the resumption of mass transit services in the New York and New Jersey area.
The U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) has delivered 354 power restoration vehicles and 449 technical personnel on 64 missions from California, Arizona, Nevada, and Washington to Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL,) N.J., and JFK International Airport, N.Y. This includes 78 missions, transporting 626 passengers and 3087.3 tons (includes 200 vehicles, 4 pumps, and 30,258 blankets) and remains ready to support any future mission assignments. Also, Since Hurricane Sandy struck, the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster IIIs, C-5 Galaxys, C-27J Spartans and C-130 Hercules have flown nearly 200 sorties, moving more than 700 passengers and approximately 3,000 tons of cargo.
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.
