Hurricane Resources

Individual Assistance is available to individuals and households in need of financial and direct services who have uninsured or underinsured necessary expenses and serious needs. Individual Assistance is available in Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter and Volusia Counties and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Individuals can apply in multiple ways, including:

• Visiting DisasterAssistance.gov
• Downloading the FEMA mobile app
• Calling 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time

*Please note, those constituents with damages from both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton will need to submit two forms outlining damages from each storm.Through the Public Assistance Grant Program, FEMA provides supplemental federal disaster grant assistance to State, Territorial, Tribal, and Local governments, and certain types of private nonprofit organizations for the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly owned facilities. Public Assistance is available in Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter and Volusia Counties and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.Housing: With the declaration for Individual Assistance, FDEM has also formally requested disaster housing assistance for eligible residents in declared counties. Specifically, the state has requested the following four programs:

• Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA):Provides direct hotel lodging to displaced survivors for up to 6 months
• Clean & Sanitize assistance: Provides a one-time payment of $300 to homeowners and renters with habitable homes.
• Non-Congregate Sheltering (NCS): Provides disaster survivors with hotel rooms or travel trailers for up to 6 months.
• Direct Temporary Housing: Provides eligible disaster survivors placement in a travel trailer, mobile home or apartment for up to 18 months.

FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) are accessible meeting places set up after a disaster. There you can learn about FEMA or other assistance programs. You may also ask questions about your case or seek guidance on other disaster-related issues. The services offered at each DRC may vary.There are two ways to find a DRC near you:

1. Use the DRC Locator web page to find addresses and DRC details. Find info like the hours of operation, services offered, and driving directions.
2. Text DRC and a ZIP Code to 4FEMA (43362). (Example: DRC 01234.) Using this option doesn’t add you to any messaging service. It’s just like doing a search on the Web. (Standard text rates may apply.)

Economic and Food Security

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)

• We are waiting for updates as it pertains to the state’s request for DUA.

DSNAP

• The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) is submitting a federal request for DSNAP which will increase eligibility for SNAP recipients.
• Federal and state SNAP rules provide for replacement of food lost by individual SNAP recipients due to “household misfortune.” Household misfortune includes fire, flood, loss of electricity (for 4 hours or more), equipment (refrigerator/freezer) failure or other disaster.
• This form to make a request will be available soon.

SNAP Replacement

• SNAP Recipients who lost food due to Hurricane Milton can apply for food replacement by completing the form below. To apply, individuals must:
  • Be a current SNAP Recipient
  • Complete the form by October 19th, 2024.
  • Households are required to provide verification of having a power outage of 4 or more hours or damage that caused food loss to their MYACCESS Account, except for households located in Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Desoto, Flagler, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, and Volusia.
  • For households in the following counties, complete the online replacement form and upload supporting verification of food loss to your MyACCESS Portal using “Other” as the document type.
    • Brevard, Clay, Duval, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, and Sumter.
• Click here to access the SNAP Replacement form.

Mental Health Resources

• SAMHSA National Distress Hotline: 1-800-985-5990 a national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster.
• The Disaster Distress Helpline offers crisis counseling and support to people experiencing emotional distress after a disaster. The number for the helpline is 1-800-985-5990, and it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Need to File a Hurricane Claim?

The Florida Division of Consumer Services has made available this website available to help with filing insurance claims.Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate is a resource to help Floridans in filing their insurance claims. Click here to learn more, and be weary of fraud when seeking help with filing an insurance claim.You can also contact your State House Representative or State Senator, as Florida’s property insurance system is broken and your local electeds should hear from you. Click here to identify you local representatives.There are three key actions Floridians in the projected path of the storm can take to be more financially prepared:

1. Gather copies of insurance policies. Floridians should make sure they have copies of their insurance policies (home, flood, and auto) in a safe, dry, and accessible location.
2. Save their insurer’s contact info. Floridians should save their insurer’s toll-free claims number to their cell phone’s contacts. APCIA has a list of insurer’s toll-free claims numbers here.
3. Make a home inventory. Floridians should make a home inventory by using their smartphone to take photos or videos of their belongings, such as furniture, appliances, clothes, lawn equipment, art, jewelry, and anything else of significant value. The home inventory should be saved to a place where it can easily be retrieved, like the cloud. Many insurers also offer an app that can help with creating a home inventory.

How to Avoid Fraud

Sadly, we know all too well that fraudsters take advantage of significant events like this storm to prey upon the vulnerable.  Please take a look at this pamphlet titled “Avoiding Fraud with Disaster Repairs” for guidance on scams to be on the lookout for following a hurricane and please share this information far and wide.If needed, FDACS has opened up the consumer hotline to receive complaints from impacted consumers.You can file a complaint by calling 1-800-HELP-FLA or visiting fdacs.gov.FloridaCommerce — formerly DEO — has activated the private sector hotline at 850-815-4925 from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Inquiries may also be emailed to ESF18@em.myflorida.com.