North Bay Residents Have Until Monday To Apply For Quake Disaster Assistance
(CBS SF) -- Residents and businesses in Napa and Solano counties who had damage or losses from the August earthquake have until Monday to register for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA has served 2,500 homeowners, renters and business owners who dealt with damage from the 6.0-magnitude South Napa earthquake on Aug. 24.
FEMA is closing its assistance center at 301 First St. in Napa at 6 p.m. Monday. Until then, help is still available in person, online and by phone.
Disaster assistance includes grants for homeowners and renters to pay for rent, essential home repairs and other disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other sources.
FEMA offers three ways to register for disaster assistance: log on to DisasterAssistance.gov, visit m.fema.gov on a smartphone or tablet, or call (800) 621-3362 or (800) 462-7585.
Those who use 711-Relay or VRS should call (800) 621-3362. Phone lines are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. PST seven days a week until further notice.
Multilingual phone operators are available in 93 languages to take registrations, answer questions and check applications.
The U.S. Small Business Administration provides low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private non-profit organizations. The loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies and organizations.
The Small Business Association's disaster assistance customer service center is at (800) 659-2955 or (800) 877-8339 and by email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. The SBA's website is www.sba.gov/disaster.
At least one member of a household must be a U.S. citizen, a qualified alien or non-citizen national with a Social Security number to be eligible for federal disaster relief.
Disaster assistance may also be available to a household if a parent or guardian applies on behalf of a minor child who is a U.S. citizen or a qualified alien. FEMA will only need the immigration status and Social Security number of the child.
The disaster assistance grants are not tax-deductible and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, medical waiver programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Social Security Disability Insurance.
The United Way also can help meet unmet disaster-related needs and operates 211 that covers Napa and Solano counties. The Bay Area 211 help line is available 24/7 in 150 languages. It connects callers to hundreds of programs to find food, housing, health care, senior services, child care, legal aid and more.
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