The FEMA deadline for California wildfire survivors to register for federal assistance is Jan. 31, 2019.
Disaster grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are available to eligible homeowners and renters impacted by the mid-November wildfires in Butte, Los Angeles, and Ventura counties. Nearly 26,000 applications from survivors of the Camp, Hill, and Woolsey Fires have been received by FEMA to date.
Disaster assistance for individuals may include grants to help homeowners and renters with temporary housing, essential home repairs, personal property replacement, and serious disaster-related needs.
Disaster assistance grants are not taxable and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicare, or other federal and state programs. Grants do not have to be repaid.
The deadline for filing applications for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was also extended to Jan. 31.
The SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters. These loans fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property.
For more information, applicants may visit their nearest Disaster Recovery Center (DRC), apply online at SBA.gov/disaster, or contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955.
Survivors who have not yet applied for FEMA disaster assistance, should register right away. There are three ways to register:
- Online at DisasterAssistance.gov;
- Call 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585), 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. PST daily. Multilingual operators are available, or
Visit a FEMA/Cal OES Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). DRCs are accessible facilities where applicants can learn more about FEMA and other disaster assistance programs. To find locations, visit the DRC locator at egateway.fema.gov/ESF6/DRCLocator.