Use FEMA Grants for Intended Purposes

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – FEMA has provided $6.5 million to South Dakota residents to help recover from this summer’s severe storms and flooding. FEMA provides assistance for specific uses and encourages survivors to use the funds as intended and keep receipts to document how they were spent.

A letter explaining what the payment is to be used for arrives shortly after you receive the check or direct deposit payment. FEMA assistance is intended to help applicants pay for temporary housing if they are unable to live in their home due to disaster damage and for home repairs, or replacement of damaged or lost personal property. 

If applicants spend the payment on anything other than its intended purpose, they may be ineligible for future disaster assistance. In some cases, FEMA may ask that the funds be returned.

Those receiving assistance are urged to keep receipts for their disaster spending for three years to document that the money was used to meet disaster-related expenses. If you receive an insurance settlement to cover the same expenses, you must reimburse FEMA. Audits are conducted to confirm funds were spent properly.

How to Apply with FEMA

• Visit a Disaster Recovery Center in person. To search for Disaster Recovery Centers, visit www.fema.gov/drc or text DRC and your Zip Code to 43362 for a list of centers closest to you.
• Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov for English, or DisasterAssistance.gov/es for Spanish.
• Use the FEMA mobile app in English or Spanish.
• Call the disaster assistance helpline at 800-621-3362 anytime from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual operators are available. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service.

For an accessible video on three ways to apply for FEMA assistance, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU7wzRjByhI

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency, or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 833-285-7448.