North Carolina renters who face eviction or have been evicted from their storm-damaged apartment complex—whether their unit had damage or not—may be eligible for disaster assistance from FEMA.
There are several ways to apply for disaster assistance:
• Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov.
• Use the FEMA mobile app.
• Call FEMA at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 or VRS) or 800-462-7585 (TTY) anytime from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.
• Visit a Disaster Recovery Center. The centers serve as one-stop shops for survivors who need one-on-one help. Survivors can visit any center for assistance. To find a center, go to fema.gov/DRC.
Renters who had already registered for federal assistance and were later evicted due to damage to other parts of their complex should take the eviction notice to a recovery center.
Displaced renters who need a safe place to stay while they look for longer-term housing may be eligible for short-term hotel stays paid by FEMA under its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.
Renters may be eligible for grants from FEMA to help with disaster-related expenses, such as:
• Renting a home when the renter’s previous one is unsafe to live in due to the disaster or their apartment complex is under repair.
• Disaster-related medical and dental expenses.
• Child-care assistance.
• Moving and storage fees.
• Replacement or repair of necessary personal property lost or damaged in the disaster, such as appliances and furniture, textbooks and computers used by students, and work equipment or tools used by independent contractors.
• Repair or replacement of vehicles damaged by the disaster.
• Disaster-related funeral and burial expenses.
The grants are not loans and don’t have to be repaid. They are not taxable income and won’t affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, welfare assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and several other programs.
The federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Florence designated 28 counties for Individual Assistance: Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Moore, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Pitt, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Wayne and Wilson.
FEMA wants to make sure that every disaster survivor has equal access to disaster information and assistance. Renters who are deaf or hard of hearing may view a video on available assistance. Watch it at youtube.com/watch?v=yAHSPK_K7tg.
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