News and Media: Disaster 4701

A Disaster Recovery Center will open at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 16, in Tipton County to accommodate residents who were affected by the storms and tornadoes and want to update their existing FEMA applications or learn about state and community programs and other available assistance.

If you receive a letter from FEMA saying you are ineligible for assistance, don’t panic. It simply means FEMA may need more information. If you disagree with FEMA’s decision about your application, you may appeal. It’s your right.

Tennessee residents who applied for assistance from FEMA for the March 31-April 1, 2023, storms and tornadoes will receive a determination letter from FEMA. It may say you are ineligible for assistance, but that is not a denial.

FEMA is meeting survivors where they are to help jumpstart their recovery from the March 31 - April 1, 2023, severe storms and tornadoes. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) teams are going door-to-door in Cannon, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Lewis, Macon, McNairy, Rutherford, Tipton and Wayne County neighborhoods to help individuals apply for FEMA assistance.

Disaster survivors should be aware that con-artists and criminals may try to obtain money or steal personal information through fraud or identity theft after a disaster. In some cases, thieves try to apply for FEMA assistance using names, addresses and Social Security numbers they have stolen from survivors.