SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians who suffered damage or losses in the October 2017 wildfires can get in-person help to guide them through the disaster assistance process.
Eligible individuals and business owners in eight California counties – Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma and Yuba – can visit any of three Local Assistance Centers (LACs) and three Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) that have opened since the devastating wildfires swept through California.
State, local and federal representatives are staffing the centers to answer questions about disaster assistance and low-interest disaster loans. They can also help survivors apply for federal disaster assistance.
Locations of the assistance and recovery centers can be found online at WildfireRecovery.org
Mendocino County LAC
Mendocino College Bldg. 6220, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah 95482
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., seven days a week
Napa County LAC
HHSA Admin. Bldg. A, 2751 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa 94558
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday; 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
(Hours will change on Monday, Nov. 6, to 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday;
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday; will be closed Sundays starting and including on Nov. 5)
Sonoma County LAC
Press Democrat Bldg., 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa 95404
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., seven days a week
Lake County DRC
Clearlake Senior Community Center, 3245 Bowers Ave., Clearlake, CA 95422
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., seven days a week
Sonoma County DRC
Hanna Boys Center, 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma 95476
Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., seven days a week
Yuba/Butte/Nevada County DRC
Yuba County Administration Office, 915 Eighth St. #117, Marysville 95901
Hours: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., seven days a week
Disaster assistance for homeowners and renters may include temporary rental assistance, replacing personal property and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.
Residents of the eight counties can also register for disaster assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, by using the FEMA app for smartphones or by calling 800-621-3362, TTY 800-462-7585. Operators are multilingual and calls are answered from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest disaster loans are available for homeowners, renters and businesses at affordable terms. Survivors can obtain more information from the SBA website at sba.gov/disaster and learn how to apply online or download an SBA application. Applicants with SBA questions can also call the SBA Customer Service Center for assistance at 800-659-2955, or 800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard of hearing.
An SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) is also open in Anaheim, CA to assist individuals and businesses in Orange County. SBA customer service representatives and representatives from FEMA will be there to answer questions, explain the application process and help with low-interest disaster loan applications. The center will close at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2. Other SBA DLOC locations can be found at sba.gov/disaster.
The deadline to register for federal disaster assistance is Dec. 11, 2017.
For more information on California recovery, visit the disaster web page at fema.gov/disaster/4344, Twitter at twitter.com/femaregion9 and the Cal OES website, caloes.ca.gov/
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All FEMA disaster assistance will be provided without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex (including sexual harassment), religion, national origin, age, disability, limited English proficiency, economic status, or retaliation. If you believe your civil rights are being violated, call 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585(TTY/TDD).
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.