HARRISBURG, PA – 90 days have passed since a major federal disaster was declared for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania after the Remnants of Hurricane Ida left many Pennsylvanians with losses and damage. On September 10, 2021 President Biden signed the declaration that allowed FEMA to assist. The declaration provided Individual Assistance (IA) for eight (8) counties: Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, and York.
Since then, between FEMA, the National Flood Insurance Program, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than $192.3 million in federal assistance has been approved for Pennsylvanians. FEMA and its federal partners continue working daily to support the commonwealth and its residents as they rebuild their lives and communities.
In the 90 days since the declaration, a total of 70,941 people in the eight designated counties have applied for federal assistance.
The registration period ends on Jan. 10, 2022.
You can still register by going online at disasterassistance.gov or by calling the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362. Lines are open 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Help is available in most languages.
More than $82.7 million in federal disaster funds have been approved, including:
- More than $61.4 million in Individual Assistance grants for housing assistance.
- More than $21.2 million in grants for Other Needs Assistance to homeowners and renters to repair or replace certain household items, pay for disaster-related medical and dental expenses, and certain other disaster-related expenses.
- A total of 66,323 FEMA housing inspections have been completed.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $42.5 million in low-interest disaster loans to repair and replace damaged property and contents.
- All the above numbers continue to grow as FEMA and the SBA continue to process incoming registrations.
- The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid policyholders more than $67.1 million for 1,819 claims filed to repair and rebuild flood-damaged property and contents.
- The Disaster Recovery Centers closed on November 20. During their mission, 1,712 survivors visited the centers.
- During their mission, which ended Oct. 5, Disaster Survivor Assistance teams canvassed neighborhoods in all eight designated counties
- There were 5,330 homes visited with 2,172 survivor interactions
Disaster response involves the whole community, including local, state, and federal agencies, the private sector, nonprofit, voluntary, and faith-based organizations. Volunteers have been working tirelessly to help Pennsylvanians who were impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Ida get back to a more normal life.
The following agencies have engaged in assisting survivors of the disaster:
- Pennsylvania VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster)
- Southeastern PA VOAD (SEPA VOAD)
- York County VOAD
- Northeastern PA VOAD (NEPA VOAD)
- American Red Cross
- Salvation Army
- United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
- United Church Christ Disaster Ministries
- Southern Baptist Convention
- Pennsylvania SPCA; ACLAMO (Accíon Comunal Latino Americano de Montgomery County / Latin American Action Committee of Montgomery County)
- Team Rubicon
- United Way 211
- Lutheran Disaster Services
- Lutheran Disaster Response
- Presbyterian Disaster Response
- Adventist Community Services
- Chester County Food Bank
- The Elevated Studio
- Nationalities Service Center
- Philabundance
FEMA’s Public Assistance Program (PA) is a grant program which provides funding for rebuilding necessary infrastructure to state and local governments and certain types of private nonprofit organizations following a presidential disaster declaration. FEMA announced that the program is available to Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Fulton, Luzerne, Montgomery, Huntington, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and York counties. All seven categories of PA (Categories A-G) are available on a 75 percent federal/25 percent state/local cost-share basis for eligible expenses.
As of 12/13/21, 194 Requests for Public Assistance have been submitted by local government entities for review.
On November 24, FEMA approved the commonwealth’s request to extend the use of emergency, non-congregate sheltering throughout the impacted areas of the commonwealth designated for Public Assistance to December 28, 2021, unless the needs of the commonwealth should end prior to this date.
For updates on the Pennsylvania response and recovery, follow the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency twitter.com/PEMAHQ on Twitter and Facebook https://m.facebook.com/PEMAHQ/. Additional information is available at fema.gov/disaster/4618.
To learn more about the City of Philadelphia’s Response and Recovery to Ida, please visit: https://www.phila.gov/2021-09-02-city-responds-to-damage-and-flooding-from-storm-ida/
Call 800-659-2955 for information about SBA’s disaster assistance, email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visit SBA’s website at SBA.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.