FEMA Blog

Posted by: Public Affairs

When federal disaster assistance becomes available to individuals, we use many means of communication to encourage disaster survivors to apply with FEMA. One way we get the word out is through our teams of community relations specialists. We’ve talked about community relations teams in the past, after they hit the ground in Alabama encouraging residents to apply for assistance. Recently, teams have been on the ground in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and Georgia, performing door-to-door “sweeps” in affected areas.

The work of community relations teams have been in the news lately, and we wanted to share a few of the recent stories:

• FEMA door knockers give Jefferson homeowners advice, listening ear (courtesy of AL.com) 
• FEMA going door to door in Arkansas (courtesy of ArkansasOnline.com) 
• FEMA going door to door talking to tornado victims (courtesy of KATV) 

Unfortunately, scam artists will also go door-to-door, aiming to take advantage of disaster survivors. If anyone comes to your door, we encourage all residences to ask for formal identification that they are a FEMA employee. (See this past blog on avoiding and reporting fraud.)

If your home or business has sustained losses and it’s in an eligible county, you can apply for disaster assistance by:

• Visiting disasterassistance.gov,
• Going to m.fema.gov on your smartphone,
• Calling 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585 or 
• Visiting a disaster recovery center.