January 2, 2025 • 8 mins
Tuesday (January 7th) is the deadline to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance if you suffered losses in Hurricanes Helene or Milton. We speak with Troy York of FEMA about what you need to know to apply.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. When you hear this,
it'll be just days before the deadline to apply for
federal assistance if you suffered damage from hurricanes Helene and
Milton now last year in twenty twenty four. Troy York
from FEMA joins us to go over what we need
to do and know and have in hand when we apply.
Troy York, thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, Gordon, thanks to you for having us on and
give an opportunity to get this information out to your audience,
and of course a happy new year to you and
to your audience.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
And hopefully a better year for a lot of people. Now,
the deadline, of course if you were affected by Helene
and Milton to apply for assistance from FEMA is January seventh,
which is this coming Tuesday. Tell us about again how
to file and there are several ways to do it
and what we need to have on hand when we
file for assistance.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Sure, there are many different ways as you mentioned to register,
and I recommend that if you are able to go
to a recovery center in your area to do that,
to register, that that would be the thing to do.
But failing that you can register at the eight hundred
number or go online at FEMA Assistance dot gov or
(01:17):
download the.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
FEMA app, which is very easy to work with.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And when you do register, you want to have various
documents with you, and if you're doing online, they're going
to ask you to upload those things such as identification,
maybe a driver's license, some evidence of residence ownership or
rental agreements. If you go to a recovery center, you
(01:42):
can take those things with you and they will help
you upload them and they are very accommodating. At the
recovery center. They can answer questions you may have. They
can ask you questions to try to solicit which programs
might best be available for your set. So I recommend,
if it all possible, go to the recovery center. They
(02:05):
are going to be closing pretty much on and around
the date of the end of registration. Some will remain
open much beyond the registration end date. And to locate
those that are near you, if you go online, go
on the browser and just put in FEMA Recovery Center Locator.
(02:27):
It'll take you to a link where you can put
in your address and it'll display all the ones that
are available to you and the hours that they're in operation.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
And that's a very important point is to go online
if you want to find out where those centers are
and if you would like to apply in person, and
of course the phone number remains an option at eight
hundred six two three three six two or eight hundred
six to one FEMA. Now, once you've applied for assistance,
what can you expect from FEMA and is there a
(02:59):
reasonable time timetable as far as when to expect it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, you know, FEMA will review the people that do
the intake. They send the information back to their support
areas and they'll go over the application and they'll get
back to the survivor as to what programs they qualify
for and what assistance may be forthcoming. I would think
a week to ten days is appropriate for them to
(03:28):
hear back from FEMA. And while we're talking about that
is extremely important that people keep in touch with FEMA
once they've registered.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So if their situation should.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Change, if they have to move for one reason or another,
they need to let FEMA know that. So if FEMA
needs to get some additional information for them from them
in order to continue their processing, they can do so.
Phone number is very important. Mailing address is very important,
So I encourage people will always keep in touch with FEMA.
(04:02):
And as you discover additional items, receipts and other documents
that you may want to add to your file, you
can use your registration number, call in or go online
and you can upload those things. Or if there's a
DRC still open in your vicinity and you can get
to it, go there and let them help you.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And of course the FEMA phone app is one way
to keep in touch with FEMA as your application goes
through the process. If you get a decision and it's
not favorable, what's the method for appealing that decision.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, when you.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Receive some notification from FEMA that your qualification may not
put you in a program right at at the moment,
in the letter itself, it will give you the reason
why they have so decided, and also in the letter
will be in a guidance as to how to appeal
(05:04):
their decision.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And if you follow that guidance, and it could be
as simply as a simple thing as asking for an
additional document or an address, or something that's gone amiss
that they can't reconcile and they're asking you for that
information and then once you provide it your your case
will continue to proceed. You can also get a lot
(05:29):
of help in preparing the appeal at the d r C.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's not it's not cumbersome. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
The letter itself will explain to you how to do it,
and I recommend it certainly that you that you do it,
that you read the letter thoroughly, find out what it
is that they're asking for, and provide it for them.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
It's been a challenging several weeks for people who went
through Helene and Milton and uh in this year in
the state of Florida, and certainly look forward to getting
that chapter closed, hopefully and getting some assistance and being
able to move on with their lives.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yes, I'm sure they do. And you know, your listeners
may be interested to know that so many folks that
were effected have received, you know, applied for and received
assistance from from FEMA. And just by way of illustration
of that in the individual assistance area, which is the
what we're talking about mostly here in the survivors who
(06:32):
who were damaged and made the application for assistance. So
far FEMA has authorized and dispersed one point to two
billion dollars for the disaster. That's state statewide. They've also
committed to and dispersing one point five to one billion
(06:56):
into public assistance, which is assistance to the local municipa.
These two assist them in repairing infrastructure and so on
like that. And the really impressive number here is that
so far, FEMA has reimbursed the local municipality some three
hundred and sixty million dollars for their removal of almost
(07:19):
thirty eight million cubic yards of debris. So it's it's
been a massive undertaking. The people have applied, they've been
addressed by FEMA, and it's going to continue. Just because
the registration period has ended doesn't mean that FEMA's participation
in the recovery effort has has ended. As long as
(07:41):
you have that registration number, and even if you discovered
things that you didn't know before when you registered, you
can come back to FEMA after the registration date and
process those things with the number you already have.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And that debris removal process, of course, has been ongoing
and a lot of cities are starting to wrap that
up now. And that's another turning of the page. As
we return to some sense of normalcy. Troy York with FEMA,
thank you very much for filling us in on what
people need as we approach the deadline and it's basically
(08:16):
their last chance to get registered for FEMA assistance if
they suffered losses during hurricanes. Helene and Milton, thank you
very much for joining us on beyond the news
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. When you hear this,
it'll be just days before the deadline to apply for
federal assistance if you suffered damage from hurricanes Helene and
Milton now last year in twenty twenty four. Troy York
from FEMA joins us to go over what we need
to do and know and have in hand when we apply.
Troy York, thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, Gordon, thanks to you for having us on and
give an opportunity to get this information out to your audience,
and of course a happy new year to you and
to your audience.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
And hopefully a better year for a lot of people. Now,
the deadline, of course if you were affected by Helene
and Milton to apply for assistance from FEMA is January seventh,
which is this coming Tuesday. Tell us about again how
to file and there are several ways to do it
and what we need to have on hand when we
file for assistance.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Sure, there are many different ways as you mentioned to register,
and I recommend that if you are able to go
to a recovery center in your area to do that,
to register, that that would be the thing to do.
But failing that you can register at the eight hundred
number or go online at FEMA Assistance dot gov or
(01:17):
download the.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
FEMA app, which is very easy to work with.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And when you do register, you want to have various
documents with you, and if you're doing online, they're going
to ask you to upload those things such as identification,
maybe a driver's license, some evidence of residence ownership or
rental agreements. If you go to a recovery center, you
(01:42):
can take those things with you and they will help
you upload them and they are very accommodating. At the
recovery center. They can answer questions you may have. They
can ask you questions to try to solicit which programs
might best be available for your set. So I recommend,
if it all possible, go to the recovery center. They
(02:05):
are going to be closing pretty much on and around
the date of the end of registration. Some will remain
open much beyond the registration end date. And to locate
those that are near you, if you go online, go
on the browser and just put in FEMA Recovery Center Locator.
(02:27):
It'll take you to a link where you can put
in your address and it'll display all the ones that
are available to you and the hours that they're in operation.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
And that's a very important point is to go online
if you want to find out where those centers are
and if you would like to apply in person, and
of course the phone number remains an option at eight
hundred six two three three six two or eight hundred
six to one FEMA. Now, once you've applied for assistance,
what can you expect from FEMA and is there a
(02:59):
reasonable time timetable as far as when to expect it.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, you know, FEMA will review the people that do
the intake. They send the information back to their support
areas and they'll go over the application and they'll get
back to the survivor as to what programs they qualify
for and what assistance may be forthcoming. I would think
a week to ten days is appropriate for them to
(03:28):
hear back from FEMA. And while we're talking about that
is extremely important that people keep in touch with FEMA
once they've registered.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So if their situation should.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Change, if they have to move for one reason or another,
they need to let FEMA know that. So if FEMA
needs to get some additional information for them from them
in order to continue their processing, they can do so.
Phone number is very important. Mailing address is very important,
So I encourage people will always keep in touch with FEMA.
(04:02):
And as you discover additional items, receipts and other documents
that you may want to add to your file, you
can use your registration number, call in or go online
and you can upload those things. Or if there's a
DRC still open in your vicinity and you can get
to it, go there and let them help you.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
And of course the FEMA phone app is one way
to keep in touch with FEMA as your application goes
through the process. If you get a decision and it's
not favorable, what's the method for appealing that decision.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, when you.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Receive some notification from FEMA that your qualification may not
put you in a program right at at the moment,
in the letter itself, it will give you the reason
why they have so decided, and also in the letter
will be in a guidance as to how to appeal
(05:04):
their decision.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And if you follow that guidance, and it could be
as simply as a simple thing as asking for an
additional document or an address, or something that's gone amiss
that they can't reconcile and they're asking you for that
information and then once you provide it your your case
will continue to proceed. You can also get a lot
(05:29):
of help in preparing the appeal at the d r C.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's not it's not cumbersome. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
The letter itself will explain to you how to do it,
and I recommend it certainly that you that you do it,
that you read the letter thoroughly, find out what it
is that they're asking for, and provide it for them.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
It's been a challenging several weeks for people who went
through Helene and Milton and uh in this year in
the state of Florida, and certainly look forward to getting
that chapter closed, hopefully and getting some assistance and being
able to move on with their lives.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yes, I'm sure they do. And you know, your listeners
may be interested to know that so many folks that
were effected have received, you know, applied for and received
assistance from from FEMA. And just by way of illustration
of that in the individual assistance area, which is the
what we're talking about mostly here in the survivors who
(06:32):
who were damaged and made the application for assistance. So
far FEMA has authorized and dispersed one point to two
billion dollars for the disaster. That's state statewide. They've also
committed to and dispersing one point five to one billion
(06:56):
into public assistance, which is assistance to the local municipa.
These two assist them in repairing infrastructure and so on
like that. And the really impressive number here is that
so far, FEMA has reimbursed the local municipality some three
hundred and sixty million dollars for their removal of almost
(07:19):
thirty eight million cubic yards of debris. So it's it's
been a massive undertaking. The people have applied, they've been
addressed by FEMA, and it's going to continue. Just because
the registration period has ended doesn't mean that FEMA's participation
in the recovery effort has has ended. As long as
(07:41):
you have that registration number, and even if you discovered
things that you didn't know before when you registered, you
can come back to FEMA after the registration date and
process those things with the number you already have.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And that debris removal process, of course, has been ongoing
and a lot of cities are starting to wrap that
up now. And that's another turning of the page. As
we return to some sense of normalcy. Troy York with FEMA,
thank you very much for filling us in on what
people need as we approach the deadline and it's basically
(08:16):
their last chance to get registered for FEMA assistance if
they suffered losses during hurricanes. Helene and Milton, thank you
very much for joining us on beyond the news
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