Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is urging New Yorkers affected by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee to file their applications for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster assistance. December 15, the deadline to apply for federal assistance, is just two weeks away, and Senator Gillibrand wants to ensure that all New Yorkers eligible for federal assistance have access to it.
“Hurricane Irene and Tropical Strom Lee had a devastating impact on communities across New York State,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Now it’s time to put all necessary resources on the ground where we need them to bring relief. We need to help our families, farmers, businesses and communities recover.”
The FEMA Disaster Relief Fund provides Public Assistance and Individual Assistance to designated counties. FEMA’s individual assistance program includes a range of programs, such as home repair, temporary housing, grants for serious disaster-related needs and expenses not covered by insurance or other assistance programs.
Public assistance is federal aid made available to public and certain nonprofit entities for emergency services and the repair or replacement of public facilities damaged in a natural disaster. Qualifying municipalities and entities can use public assistance funding for debris removal and cleanup, emergency protective measures to save lives and prevent further property damage following a storm and to repair washed out and heavily damaged roads and bridges. Local governments can also utilize this source of funding to repair water control facilities including dams and levees, to repair public buildings and equipment damaged from the storm, repair utilities, and repair or restore public parks and other recreational facilities.
For FEMA Assistance, those affected may visit http://www.disasterassistance.gov/, apply online at http://m.fema.gov/ or call (800) 621-3362.
The SBA provides low-interest loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and organizations to repair or replace property, equipment, inventory and business assets that were damaged in a disaster.
For SBA Assistance, those affected may call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or send an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan application forms can be downloaded from www.sba.gov. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. Those affected by the disasters may also apply for disaster loans electronically from SBA’s website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.
For Hurricane Irene, residents, businesses, and communities in Albany, Bronx, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Herkimer, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, Washington, and Westchester Counties are eligible to apply for funding.
For Tropical Storm Lee, residents, businesses, and communities in Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Fulton, Oneida, Orange, Otsego, Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga and Ulster Counties are eligible to apply for funding.