If you had funeral or reburial expenses as a result of Hurricane Idalia in Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Suwannee or Taylor counties, funeral assistance may be available from FEMA.
FEMA’s Other Needs Assistance
FEMA’s Other Needs Assistance (ONA) program provides assistance for certain eligible disaster-caused funeral expenses. This may include the cost of unexpected and uninsured expenses.
To request funeral assistance, you must first apply to FEMA at 800-621-3362, DisasterAssistance.gov, visit a Disaster Recovery Center or FEMA mobile app.
Eligible expenses may include cost of transfer of remains, casket or urn, funeral services, death certificates, burial plot, cremation, interment, cost of reinterment if disinterment is caused by the disaster and/or occurs in a family cemetery on private property.
Eligibility Criteria
FEMA must verify:
- An official state-issued death certificate or a signed statement from a medical examiner, coroner or other certifier stating that the death was directly or indirectly related to the disaster.
- Evidence of an unmet funeral expense – a receipt or verifiable estimates for funeral expenses that indicate the applicant incurred, or will incur, eligible interment, reinterment, or funeral expenses.
- Confirmation that funeral expenses have not been paid for by other resources. By law, FEMA cannot provide you a grant when any other source – Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits – has covered expenses for the same disaster-related need.