Frequently Asked Questions About Disasters

By law, FEMA cannot duplicate benefits provided through insurance. Many insurance policies include Additional Living Expenses (ALE) or Loss of Use (LOU) coverage, which provides money to cover lodging costs when you are unable to live in your home due to a disaster. If your insurance does not include ALE or LOU, or if the money provided by your insurance does not cover all your lodging expenses, you can submit your insurance documentation to FEMA to be considered for Lodging Expense Reimbursement.

Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) is a FEMA program that allows for temporary, short-term accommodations for eligible applicants when other housing options are not available.

Through the Individuals and Households Program, FEMA may provide the following assistance for eligible expenses and losses that are not covered by insurance or any other source.

The following list includes the different types of assistance FEMA is authorized to offer through the state-requested disaster declaration process. The type of assistance available is dependent on the request from the state.

• Lodging Expense Reimbursement: Money to reimburse for hotels, motels, or other short-term lodging if you are temporarily displaced by the disaster.
• Rental Assistance: Money to rent alternate housing accommodations if you are displaced from your home because of the disaster.
• Home Repair/Replacement Assistance: If you are a homeowner and lived in the home at the time of the disaster, money to repair your disaster damaged primary residence, utilities, and residential infrastructure, or to help replace your primary residence when the residence is destroyed. If you were affected by a disaster declared on or after March 22, 2024, the money can also help with fixing areas of your home damaged by the disaster even if there was a pre-existing condition in that part of the home.
• Accessibility Needs: Money to help survivors with a disability with specific repairs that make their home accessible (such as exterior ramp, grab bars, and paved path to the home entrance). Repairs can be made when these items are damaged. Improvements can be made when those features were not present prior to the disaster and are needed due to a pre-existing disability or a disability caused by the disaster.
• Privately-owned Roads, Bridges, Docks: Money for survivors whose only access to their home has been damaged by the disaster.
• Direct Temporary Housing Assistance: Direct assistance that FEMA may deliver through providing Temporary Housing Units, Multi-Family Lease and Repair, or Direct Lease.
• Displacement Assistance: For disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024, money to help with immediate housing needs if you cannot return to your home because of the disaster. The money can be used to stay in a hotel, with family and friends, or other options while you look for a rental unit.
• Personal Property Assistance: Money to help you repair or replace appliances, room furnishings, and a computer damaged by the disaster. This can also include money for books, uniforms, tools, additional computers and other items required for school or work, including self-employment.
• Transportation Assistance: Money for your vehicle damaged by the disaster when you do not have another vehicle you can use. Unlike most other forms of the Individuals and Households Program assistance, an applicant does not need to live in the Presidentially declared disaster area to be considered for this assistance.
• Medical and Dental Assistance: Money to help you pay for expenses because the disaster caused an injury or illness. This money can also be used to help replace medical/dental equipment, breastfeeding equipment, damaged or lost prescribed medicine, or loss/injury of a service animal.
• Funeral Assistance: Money to help you pay for funeral or reburial expenses caused by the disaster.
• Child Care Assistance: Money for new or increased disaster-caused child care expenses.
• Moving and Storage Expenses: Money to help you move and store personal property from your home to prevent additional damage, typically used while you are making repairs to your home or moving to a new place due to the disaster.
• Assistance for Miscellaneous Items: Money for certain eligible items (such as a generator, dehumidifier, chainsaw, etc.) you purchased or rented after the disaster to assist with recovery.
• Group Flood Insurance Policy: If your home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and you have flood damage caused by the disaster, FEMA may purchase a Group Flood Insurance Policy on your behalf that gives you three years of coverage.
• Clean and Sanitize Assistance: Money to help you pay for very minor damage caused by the disaster to prevent additional loss and potential health or safety concerns. This money is only available in certain disasters if you had property damage but were not eligible for Home Repair or Replacement Assistance because FEMA determined you could still live safely in your home.
• Critical Needs Assistance: For disasters declared before March 22, 2024, money to help you pay for immediate needs such as water, food, first aid, prescriptions, infant formula, breastfeeding equipment, diapers, personal hygiene items, and fuels for transportation. *Critical Needs Assistance is not available in all disasters.
• Serious Needs Assistance: For disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024, money to help you pay for immediate needs such as water, food, first aid, prescriptions, infant formula, breastfeeding equipment, diapers, personal hygiene items, and fuels for transportation. *Serious Needs Assistance is available in all disasters, but you must meet eligibility requirements.

Contact your local county, tribal or municipal government about clearing your road of debris after a disaster.  FEMA does not do direct debris removal, and does not hire, manage or supervise work performed by contractors for debris removal after storms.                          

Some private roads may be eligible after the work is done for reimbursement by FEMA under certain conditions, such as when a private road provides access to essential community services or is necessary for public health and safety.   Commercial property owners are responsible for debris removal from their private property.

FEMA may provide financial assistance to approved applicants for their uninsured or underinsured necessary expenses and serious needs. FEMA does not cover insurance deductibles as a standalone, disaster-related cost. Applicants should submit any insurance proceeds or denials to FEMA so we can individually evaluate your eligibility if you have remaining unmet needs.

If you need a tree removed from your property after a disaster, we recommend that you first assess the danger and document the damage with photos and/or videos.  This could include trees leaning on a house, hanging above power lines, or blocking a road.  Documentation will be important for any claims you might file.

Next, contact your home insurance company. Many policies cover tree-removal if the tree fell due to a disaster and is damaging your home or blocking access.

You may also contact your city, county, or tribal government to inquire about local tree removal programs.  Some local governments have programs to assist with removing hazardous trees.

It’s important to note that FEMA doesn’t directly remove trees from private property.  We provide funding to local governments for debris removal, who then manage the cleanup.

FEMA does not manage debris cleanup after a storm. We don’t hire the cleanup crews, run the dump sites, or manage the transfer stations. While we do give money to state, local, tribal and/or territorial governments to help pay for debris removal, we don’t make the local rules about how that cleanup happens. Decisions about where dumpsites are, who picks up the trash, or who gets hired to do the work are made locally.   To learn more about local debris removal procedures, please visit your state or local emergency management agency website.  You can also visit www.211.org, which is a general resource that connects people to essential community services such as debris removal assistance. 

FEMA assistance may be able to help pay for repairs that are needed to make your home safe, sanitary and secure to live in after it’s been damaged by a disaster.  These may include:

•  Property: FEMA may assist in the replacement or repairs to disaster-damaged furnaces, hot waters heaters, refrigerators and stoves. Non-essential items like dishwashers and home theatre equipment are not covered.
• Ceiling and roof damage: FEMA may assist to repair disaster-related leaks in a roof that damage ceilings and threaten electrical components, like overhead lights, but not stains from roof leaks.
• Floors: FEMA may assist to repair a disaster-damaged subfloor in occupied parts of the home but not floor covering like tile or carpet.
• Windows: FEMA may assist with disaster-related broken windows but not blinds and drapes.

No, it won't. FEMA assistance is separate from other government programs. FEMA grants won't affect your Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps (SNAP), or any other federal benefits. Plus, FEMA grants aren't considered taxable income.

After applying, you may be referred to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for an SBA disaster assistance loan as part of the disaster assistance process.

FEMA works with SBA if you have additional unmet needs. Loans may help with home repair or replacement, personal property, vehicles, mitigation, business losses, and working capital for small business and most private nonprofits.

If you are approved for a loan, you are not obligated to accept it.

You can call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 if you have additional questions or need more information.

For questions about the SBA disaster loan program, please call the SBA at 800-659-2955 (TTY: 800-877-8339). SBA information is also available at www.SBA.gov/disaster or by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

If you were affected by a disaster declared before March 22, 2024, and are referred to the SBA, you must complete an SBA disaster loan application to be eligible for Personal Property Assistance, Transportation Assistance and/or Group Flood Insurance Policy (GFIP).

For disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024, you may choose if you want to complete an SBA disaster loan application and it will not affect your eligibility for FEMA assistance.

Learn more about SBA disaster loans and how they connect with FEMA assistance.