DUNBAR, Fla. — Representatives answering your questions about the FEMA process as well as temporary housing.
Tonight at Dunbar High School, FEMA, the Small Business Administration, and National Flood Insurance are giving updates about hurricane recovery in Southwest Florida.
FEMA announced earlier today that more than $1 billion in federal grants, disaster loans, and flood insurance payments have been provided to the state of Florida. More than $545 million dollars has been provided to households, $302 million to the state from FEMA.
The main concern FEMA says they hear from survivors is denial letters after applying for assistance. Often times it’s the applicants’ insurance holding them back.
“When people have insurance, because we cannot duplicate what you’re entitled to your insurance company, we can’t duplicate those funds," said Mike Wade, a spokesperson with FEMA. "That has a tendency to hold up the FEMA process until they provide us with documentation to show they were paid by the insurance company.”
Wade also advises those applicants who received a denial letter to either call FEMA or visit a disaster recovery center. Right now, there are 15 disaster recovery centers set up throughout the state.
Those centers are in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Lake, Lee (with two locations), Orange, Osceola, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, and Volusia counties. More centers are planned to open in the coming days. As centers are added, real-time locations will be updated online right here.
You can also reach FEMA by phone at 1 (800) 621-3362
