BATON ROUGE, La.– The Oct. 27 deadline to register for Hurricane Laura-related FEMA disaster assistance is fast approaching yet some have not applied for fear that receiving a federal grant will impact other financial assistance or count as taxable income.
It will not.
FEMA grants are not taxable income and won’t affect eligibility or benefits received for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or other public-assistance programs.
Federal assistance includes help for temporary housing, rental assistance and repair or replacement of damaged property.
Additionally, grants may be available to help with other expenses such as medical and dental care, childcare, funeral and burial costs, replacement of essential household items, moving and storage, vehicle repairs and cleanup.
To see if you live in a designated parish, visit: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4559/designated-areas.
To find out if you qualify for FEMA disaster assistance:
- Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585).
- Visit disasterassistance.gov/.
- To find a drive-thru DRC you can text 43362 and type DRC and your ZIP Code (for example, DRC 12345).
- To receive a link to download the FEMA app:
- Apple devices: text APPLE to 43362
Android devices: text ANDROID to 43362
- Visit fema.gov/about/news-multimedia/app
- Call 211 or text 527435837 to 898-211. For Louisiana evacuees that are now out-of-state, please call 337-310-4636. To get support, this number also is valid for TTY out-of-state users.
- Those who use a relay service such as a videophone, InnoCaption or CapTel should update FEMA with their specific number assigned to that service.
Hurricane Laura survivors with home repair questions should contact FEMA mitigation outreach at 866-579-0820 or at fema-mitoutreach-4559@fema.dhs.gov Monday-Saturday, 8am to 6pm CDT. To view mitigation resources visit https://fema.connectsolutions.com/lauramit/.
For the latest information on Hurricane Laura, visit www.fema.gov/disaster/4559 or follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6