LAKE MARY, Fla. – FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) specialists are working in communities affected by Hurricane Idalia, helping people apply for federal assistance and referring them to additional resources for their recovery.
These specialists carry FEMA identification and never charge for service.
More than 126 specialists currently are operating in 16 counties. They have visited over 120,000 homes and more than 7,000 businesses, community facilities and public spaces. They have met with 3,000 people at FEMA’s mobile centers in various locations.
While thousands of people have applied for FEMA assistance by calling 800-621-3362, going online to DisasterAssistance.gov or using the FEMA App for mobile devices, others have applied by meeting individually with Disaster Survivor Assistance specialists in neighborhoods.
In some cases, people want to apply or find out more about FEMA assistance. In other cases, they want referrals to other organizations that can provide help.
In the field, DSA teams learn of impediments to disaster survivors applying for help, and they take action. Recently in Horseshoe Beach, FEMA specialists met with a pastor who told them that congregants were having difficulty getting access to the application process because of power outages, cellphone outages and the distance from the nearest Disaster Recovery Center. With the pastor’s support, a DSA team came to the church the following Sunday and provided application help and information to many congregants. There was a cake with the inscription “Horseshoe Beach Strong.”