December 19, 2017

FEMA: 100 Days Marks Hurricane Irma Recovery Progress

In the 100 days since the Sept. 10, 2017 presidential disaster declaration following Hurricane Irma’s destructive path through Florida, the state, with help from federal partners, has progressed from response to significant recovery.

Milestones point to this progress:

As of Dec. 14, federal agencies have provided more than $2.49 billion to help cover losses caused by Hurricane Irma. This includes money paid out to NFIP policyholders, through low-interest disaster loans from U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and from FEMA grants. These funds make it possible to begin rebuilding homes and restoring communities.

Soon after Hurricane Irma struck, FEMA sent Disaster Survivor Assistance teams to affected areas informing survivors of available assistance. These teams spoke with and delivered information to about 190,000 people.

More than 2.6 million survivors in the designated counties have registered for assistance. At the peak of the response to Hurricane Irma, 22 Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) were open to assist survivors with registration and answer questions. The remaining two open DRCs close permanently this week.

Individuals and families received more than $940 million in FEMA grants, including $160 million for repair of disaster-damaged housing and nearly $490 million in rental assistance.

SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters and business owners. The SBA has approved more than $1 billion in disaster loans to help over 28,400 businesses and residents to repair, rebuild, replace and recover.

The NFIP has received more than 27,555 claims and paid more than $519.8 million to policyholders, including advance payments to help homeowners with repairs.

Public Assistance (PA)

Currently, FEMA and the state are assessing projects submitted for federal disaster assistance. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provides grants to state and local governments and certain nonprofit entities for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of infrastructure. To date, 1,174 Requests for Public Assistance have been received by the state. The federal share of assistance for this disaster is 75 percent of eligible costs.

Voluntary Agencies and Unmet Needs

Volunteers from the state of Florida and across the country are lending their time and talent to the Hurricane Irma recovery efforts. Currently, volunteer agencies, faith-based groups, local service clubs and individual volunteers are helping with cleanup and rebuilding from Jacksonville to the Keys. Together, these volunteers are assisting in resolving unmet needs and clearing the way for recovery.

For more recovery information, visit www.FEMA.gov/IrmaFL, or follow us @FEMARegion4 on Twitter and on FEMA’s Facebook page.

This post was originally published here.