South Dakotans Have Two Weeks Left to Apply for FEMA Assistance

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakotans in Davison, Lincoln, Turner, and Union counties impacted by this summer’s severe storms have two weeks remaining to apply for federal disaster assistance. The deadline is October 15, 2024.

How Individuals can Apply for Disaster Assistance

• 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. Shorter wait times are more likely in the mornings or evenings. 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

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

• Apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at https://www.sba.gov/disaster.
• Call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services) or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Disaster Recovery Update

Since President Biden’s major disaster declaration for South Dakota on August 15, federal agencies have approved $12,866,243.04 in grants and loans to assist in recovery (as of Sept. 29).

To date, a total of 1,310 people in Davison, Lincoln, Turner, and Union counties have applied with FEMA for assistance. FEMA has approved $8,255,543.04 through the Individuals and Households program, consisting of $5,617,087.97 in Housing Assistance for home repairs and rental expenses, and $2,638,455.07 in Other Needs Assistance for repair or replacement of personal property, vehicle repair or replacement, moving expenses and other disaster-related needs.

In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved $4,610,700 in low interest disaster loans for homeowners, renters, and businesses.

Stay in Touch with FEMA

If you have already applied for disaster assistance with FEMA, it is important that you stay in touch and keep your contact information updated. FEMA may need additional information from you in order to process your assistance or determine your eligibility. Please note that calls from FEMA may come from an unknown number on your caller-ID.

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FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters. 
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