A major presidential disaster declaration was approved after New Mexico was hit with severe storms, flooding and landslides beginning on June 23. The declaration authorizes FEMA to provide various types of assistance to benefit individuals and households.
FEMA Individual Assistance
FEMA’s Individual Assistance program directly helps residents with basic critical needs not covered by insurance such as returning a home to a safe, sanitary, functional and accessible environment during their recovery from a disaster. After you apply for disaster assistance, FEMA may verify your disaster-caused damage through an inspection. FEMA cannot provide assistance when any other source has provided assistance for the same disaster-related need.
Under Individual Assistance, FEMA provides several types of financial and direct assistance to eligible individuals and families. These may include, but are not limited to:
Housing Assistance
- Rental Assistance to rent alternate housing while an applicant is displaced from a disaster-damaged primary residence. Rental Assistance and Continued Temporary Housing Assistance may be used to rent a house, apartment, manufactured home, recreational vehicle, or efficiency unit at a hotel or motel while your damaged residence is being repaired.
- Lodging Expense Reimbursement for hotels, motels or other short-term lodging while an applicant is displaced from a disaster-damaged primary residence.
- Home Repair Assistance to help restore an owner-occupied, disaster-damaged primary residence to safe and sanitary condition.
- Replacement Assistance to help homeowners replace an owner-occupied primary residence when it is destroyed by a disaster.
Other Needs Assistance
- Displacement: Helps with housing needs if you cannot return to your home because of the disaster. Assistance can be used for temporary housing such as hotels, staying with family or friends, or other suitable options.
- Serious Needs Assistance: A one-time payment per household for essential items such as food, water, baby formula, breast-feeding supplies, medicine and other serious disaster-related needs. Note: This is not a reimbursement for loss of power or replacing food. It is intended for emergency needs only.
- Childcare: Assistance for childcare expenses or an increase in childcare expenses caused by a disaster.
- Medical/Dental: Assistance to help cover expenses related to disaster-caused injuries or illnesses.
- Personal Property: Helps repair or replace appliances, room furnishings, and a personal or family computer damaged in the disaster. Assistance may include reimbursement to help replace tools and equipment required for self-employment, not covered by an employer or insurance, but required for employment.
- Transportation: Assistance to repair or replace a vehicle damaged by the disaster when you don’t have another vehicle to use.
- Miscellaneous Items: Assistance that may help pay for specific items that were purchased or rented after the disaster to help you recover. For example, a chainsaw to help clear fallen trees that prevent safe access to your home.
- Moving and Storage: Assistance moving and storing personal property from your home to prevent additional damage, usually while making repairs to your home or moving to a new place due to the disaster.
Learn more about FEMA’s Individual Assistance program at fema.gov/assistance/individual
Homeowners and renters in Lincoln County may apply for federal assistance if they had damage from the severe storms, flooding and landslides that started June 23. There are several ways to apply for FEMA disaster assistance.
- The fastest way to apply is at DisasterAssistance.gov.
- In-person assistance is available at the State Disaster Resource Center located at Eastern New Mexico University – Ruidoso Annex, 709 Mechem Dr., Ruidoso, NM 88345. The location is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
- The FEMA App is available on mobile devices.
- Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. Mountain. If you use a relay service, captioned telephone or other service, you can give FEMA your number for that service. Helpline specialists speak many languages. Press 2 for Spanish.
For an accessible video on how to apply for assistance, go to Three Ways to Register for FEMA Disaster Assistance - YouTube
For the latest information about New Mexico’s recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4886. Follow FEMA Region 6 on Facebook at facebook.com/femaregion6 and on X at x.com/FEMARegion6