CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Following a federal major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden, assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now available to residents in 27 North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians due to the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
Homeowners and renters in the following counties are eligible to apply for FEMA help: Alexander, Mecklenburg, Swain, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday that more than 57,000 people have applied for FEMA individual aid and said some have already received funds to begin repairing their homes and property.
FEMA funding can be used to help with serious needs, displacement, temporary housing, basic home repair costs, personal property loss and other disaster-caused needs.
There are multiple ways to apply for FEMA assistance in North Carolina for Hurricane Helene recovery.
How to apply
- Online at DisasterAssistance.gov
- Click on your county, provide your ZIP code or state and city, and select the disaster that affected you
- Provide details about your needs, including property damage, emergency needs and additional expenses
- Create an account or sign in to Login.gov
- Revisit the DisasterAssistance.gov website to submit your application to FEMA
- The FEMA app
- The FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362
- The helpline is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The line is open every day and help is available in multiple languages.
FEMA's disaster assistance offers new benefits that provide flexible funding directly to survivors. In addition, the agency has implied the process and expanded eligibility that allows North Carolinians impacted by Helene a wider range of assistance and funds for serious needs.
What you need to apply for FEMA aid
- A current phone number where you can be contacted.
- Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying.
- Your Social Security number.
- A general list of damage and losses.
- Banking information if you choose direct deposit.
- If insured, the policy number or the agent/company name.
If you have homeowners, renters or flood insurance, you should file a claim as soon as possible. FEMA cannot duplicate benefits for losses covered by insurance. If your policy does not cover all your disaster needs, you may be eligible for federal assistance.
What about South Carolina?
As of now, FEMA hasn't declared any individual county in South Carolina a disaster area for federal funding. That's left some people wondering when they'll get additional aid. Among those asking is Dave Latish, owner of Sharon Grill in York County's Sharon community.
"We've been doing burgers in the parking lot, no showers," he said. "Other people have it bad, so I'm not trying to complain too much. But we do need to have it declared as a disaster area."
Latish said while his insurance for loss of business income has a 72-hour deductible that he met, he's still up against a wall.
"I had a mortgage payment due today, and losing all those sales makes it difficult," he said.
Latish first looked up FEMA's disaster relief website, but saw York County wasn't listed. Then he reached out to U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman's office for further information.
"I spoke with Congressman Norman's office and they directed me to contact York County Emergency Management and they contacted them as well," he said. "That office told me that in order for it to be declared as a FEMA disaster area, there was a $1.3 million threshold on uninsured property or uninsured damages."
A York County spokesperson did confirm that with WCNC Charlotte via a statement:
As of this time, York County does not have enough destroyed or severely damaged homes to qualify for federal assistance through FEMA. However, the York County Office of Emergency Management is still collecting reports from the public.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to FEMA for more information. Frank Matranga, the agency's director of individual assistance, said more counties could be added to the disaster declarations soon.
"We'll be working with state officials to collect that information," he said, "and obviously for state officials to be able to do that, hearing directly from survivors and their counties helps them tell us and helps us work together to understand where the needs are and make sure that where there's need and federal assistance is available that we're providing that support."
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster also echoed this sentiment during a Monday news briefing.
"Although we got the declaration to provide funds for the disaster relief, the counties themselves must send in the information for us to transmit it to FEMA," he said. "Doesn't work any other way."