Montgomery, Ala. – More than $260 million in federal grants, loans and flood insurance program claims has been approved for residents and businesses since Hurricane Sally made landfall in Alabama two months ago.
Nearly $77 million of that amount has come in the form of grants to hurricane-impacted homeowners and renters to help pay for rent, temporary housing and repairs to a primary residence, as well as other disaster-related needs.
Three Alabama counties—Baldwin, Escambia and Mobile—were designated eligible for FEMA’s Individual Assistance (IA) program in a declaration signed by President Trump on Sept. 20, 2020.
As of Nov. 23, IA grants for temporary housing and rental and home repair or replacement total $55.3 million. Grants for other needs assistance (ONA) exceed $21.5 million.
ONA is provided to individuals and households to help address necessary expenses that cannot be met through other forms of disaster assistance or insurance, such as replacement of personal property and medical, dental, funeral, childcare, transportation, and moving and storage expense reimbursements.
“We are grateful for our local, state, and federal partnership that has helped deliver assistance to families that were devastated by Hurricane Sally,” said Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director, Brian Hastings. “As the recovery process continues, we encourage everyone to build forward better and start preparing for the next disaster.”
Small Business Administration (SBA)
More than $109.8 million in SBA disaster loans have been approved to help homeowners, renters and businesses recover from Hurricane Sally. As of Nov. 23, SBA has approved nearly $103.3 million in long-term, low interest disaster loans for homeowners and renters, as well as more than $6.5 million disaster loans to businesses.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
To date, NFIP has approved 3,247 flood insurance claims, and has paid more than $74.2 million to policy holders. The program allows property owners in communities that participate in NFIP to purchase flood insurance administered by the federal government.