FEMA Offers Assistance for Disaster Recovery for March 2009

Indiana has received a major declaration for severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that occurred from March 8-14. The declaration is for Individual Assistance in the counties of Allen, Carroll, DeKalb, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Noble, Pulaski, White and Whitley and for Hazard Mitigation statewide.

Individuals who had damaged are encouraged to apply for FEMA assistance on-line at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621 FEMA (1-800-621-3362. Those who call the 800 number can receive assistance in English or Spanish. The maximum grant amount is $30,300. The goal of the federal assistance is to allow victims to return their houses to safe and secure status.

It is important to get the word out for victims to apply for assistance if they don't have other means of recovering. In some disasters local long-term recovery committee may assist victims. Those who use federal assistance first will reduce the burden on local long-term recovery committees to raise funds.