HARTFORD, Conn. –Homeowners, renters and businesses who had property damage or losses caused by remnants of Hurricane Ida, have two weeks to apply for federal disaster assistance. The deadline to apply for assistance from FEMA and for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is Friday, Jan. 28, 2022.
Federal disaster assistance for individuals and families can include money for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property losses, and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.
If you live in Fairfield, New Haven or New London counties, and had storm damage, you can register for disaster assistance, update your contact information, ask questions about a letter from FEMA, get information about FEMA home inspections, or learn how to appeal a FEMA decision the following ways:
- Going online at DisasterAssistance.gov;
- Downloading the FEMA app; or
- Calling 800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585). The toll-free telephone lines are currently operating 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET daily. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. Multilingual operators are available.
Are You Ready to Register with FEMA?
You should have the following information available when you are ready to register:
- Address of the damaged primary dwelling
- Current mailing address, telephone number and Social Security number
- Your insurance information
- Total household annual income
- Routing and account numbers for checking or savings accounts for direct deposit; and
- A description of disaster damage and losses.
Low-interest Disaster Loans for Businesses, Homeowners and Renters
The primary source of federal funding for long-term disaster recovery not covered by insurance is the Small Business Administration. SBA offers disaster assistance in the form of low interest loans to businesses and private nonprofit organizations of any size, homeowners, and renters.
For businesses, SBA disaster loans may help repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages for mitigation purposes. Eligible small businesses and nonprofit organizations may also apply for working capital to help overcome an economic injury.
Homeowners, renters, and businesses that were affected by Hurricane Ida may apply for disaster loans using SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/, and should apply under SBA declaration #17258. For more information, applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or email DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov.
The application filing deadline for physical damage loans is Jan. 28, 2022.
The application filing deadline for economic injury loans is Aug. 1, 2022.