Information On Individual Assistance For Somerset County

As most of you know, the appeal was granted and Somerset County was awarded Individual Assistance, thanks in large part to the hard work of the Governor’s office, our federal delegation, and state and local leadership and also through the tireless work of Steve Marshall and the teams of inspectors from the county and the city who kept doing PDAs. Thank you to everyone who pushed for this appeal and made this happen.

Here is the most up to date information on where we should direct persons and businesses who are seeking Individual Assistance. The main thing to do is to encourage people to call the 800 number.

Toll free number. Persons seeking individual assistance should register by calling 1-800-621-3362 which is 1-800-621-FEMA. This is a simple process that requires them to provide their name, social security number, address, directions to their home, a description of their losses and insurance information. Here is a link to a checklist of information people need to have on hand when they apply. For the hearing and speech impaired, TTY is 1-800-462-7585.

Register online. An alternative to registering by phone is to register online at http://www.disasterassistance.gov/ In addition to applying for assistance online, you can take an anonymous questionnaire to find out what programs are available to them.

Disaster Recovery Center. A disaster recovery center or “DRC” (FEMA loves acronyms) will be opening at the Lower Somerset Ambulance and Rescue Squad, located at 2 Mill Lane, Crisfield, Maryland 21817 on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 9 a.m. People can register online and can also speak with specialists for each type of assistance that FEMA individual assistance provides. The ambulance squad is between Jacksonville Road and Route 413, near Food Lion and Circle Inn.

Teams going door to door. This weekend, FEMA and MEMA teams will be going door to door to hand out cards and flyers to businesses and individuals telling them how to apply for assistance.

Community Town Hall. We continue to plan to host the Community Town Hall this Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 6 p.m. Now that individual assistance has been granted, a large part of this meeting will be a presentation from FEMA on the IA process and they will have staff on hand before, during and after the meeting to help people apply for IA who have not done so already.

If you have questions about what types of assistance are included within Individual Assistance, a helpful, but somewhat dated (July 2008) guide can be viewed here. It is also available in several languages.