How FEMA Works

FEMA's mission is to help people before, during and after disasters. Here's what you can expect from FEMA in each stage.

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Before a Disaster Occurs

During Disaster Response

After a Disaster

We work across the country every day before disasters happen to help people and communities understand and prepare for possible risks.

Floods can happen anywhere and are the most-common type of disaster. We can help you determine your flood risk and provide tools and resources, including flood maps, to help you take steps to protect your home.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed by FEMA. You can learn more about getting a flood insurance policy by visiting FloodSmart.gov.

We also work with communities to manage flood risk through floodplain management and support coordination across all levels of government to protect citizens and property from flooding.

Helping Communities Become More Resilient

We help communities become more resilient through emergency or disaster-related grant programs. Grants support state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments, certain private non-profits, individuals and institutions of higher learning in recovery initiatives, research and more.

FEMA coordinates the federal response to disasters that receive a Presidential disaster declaration. We work closely with officials in states, Tribal Nations, and territories as they respond to disasters and make requests for federal support.

When a disaster strikes, local government officials review the damage to determine the extent of the incident and its impact. If the state, Tribal Nation, or territory determine they need federal assistance, they submit a request for a federal disaster declaration.

All emergency and major disaster declarations are made solely at the discretion of the President of the United States through the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.

• Learn more about how a disaster gets declared.
• Look up recent disaster declarations.

There are two types of disaster declarations provided for in the Stafford Act: emergency declarations and major disaster declarations. The type of declaration affects what types of assistance may be available.

Different disaster assistance programs are available for individual citizens and public groups, such as government agencies and private nonprofit organizations.

If you are affected by a disaster and live in an area designated for Individual Assistance under a major disaster declaration, you can apply for Individual Assistance for support during the immediate response of an incident and afterward in the recovery process.

There are many types of assistance programs available to help survivors after a disaster for needs like emergency sheltering, home repairs and hazard mitigation.

Our Public Assistance Program provides supplemental grants to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, as well as certain types of private non-profits, to respond and recover from emergencies or major disasters.

The program helps communities cover costs for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective procedures, and restoring public infrastructure. Public Assistance hazard mitigation funding helps communities build back better and reduce future disaster loss.

When a disaster is declared in your area, you may see Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams canvassing communities to register people for disaster assistance, provide in-person information and referrals to help.

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After you apply for assistance, we work with you to determine the next steps and the types of assistance you may be eligible for.

Look through a list of Frequently Asked Questions about assistance programs and the disaster recovery process.

We support state, local, tribal, and territorial government officials who are primarily responsible for managing their communities' disaster recovery with recovery resources. These resources include recovery roadmaps, community management toolkits, and a recovery and resilience resource library to maintain whole community recovery.

The National Disaster Recovery Framework enables a whole community approach and allows agencies to coordinate with each other to provide communities with unified federal assistance as quickly and effectively as possible.

After a disaster, we help communities rebuild stronger to reduce future disaster losses and become more resilient.

Learn what it means to be resilient, or get inspired by the collection of stories and case studies of communities taking action to build back stronger.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is available after a presidentially declared disaster and helps fund risk reduction projects such as:

• Planning & Enforcement
• Flood Protection
• Retrofitting
• Construction