The deadline is coming up to apply for F.E.M.A. grants (for people in 9 northern California counties, who lost their homes or other belongings in the recent wildfires. Residents of San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Sonoma, Napa, Butte, Yolo, and Solano counties have until October 21st of this year to apply for the money that can be used to help fire survivors pay rent, do home repairs, and/or home replacement, these fire survivors also need to contact their insurers and file claims for disaster-related needs (to repair/replace vehicles, funeral expenses, and medical and dental expenses) prior to registering with F.E.M.A. Applicants are strongly encouraged to save receipts, and photograph damage to qualify for re-imbursement money.
People with insurance should register with FEMA even if they aren’t certain they will be eligible for grants since the agency may be able to cover costs that insurance doesn’t.
To register, people will need: social security numbers, insurance policy information, address of their damaged primary dwelling, a description of the damage or losses caused by the wildfires, a mailing address and telephone number, total household annual income, and a routing and account number for a checking or savings account.
People who do not register by Oct. 21 will not be eligible for the grants.
Fire survivors can register three different ways: online at disasterassistance.gov, through the FEMA app on a smartphone or tablet; or by calling FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. The grants are available only for survivors of the wildfires that began Aug. 14, not for Covid-19 related assistance.
