Get Ready Month - Day #19: FEMA
Posted on | May 25, 2007 |
FEMA. Before Hurricane Katrina, many Americans were fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the FEMA organization. Now we’ve heard all about FEMA: FEMA trailers, FEMA policies and changes…but what is exactly FEMA?
FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency and is now a part of the Department of Homeland Security (it used to be its own independent agency). According to FEMA, their role is to prepare the nation for hazards and manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident.
So should you find yourself in any type of federal disaster - winter storms, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, even severe thunderstorms - FEMA might offer assistance to you and your family.
They’ll offer assistance by:
- offering financial relief (usually by providing monetary vouchers to disaster victims)
- providing housing for extreme disaster situations (e.g. FEMA trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims)
- opening disaster recovery centers for victims to receive information and assistance with completing relief applications
If you need to turn to FEMA for assistance, here are several articles featuring tips from FEMA, disaster survivors and emergency workers:
- Filing for Federal Disaster Relief
- Financial Assistance (includes FEMA and other organizations you can contact)
- Questions to Ask Your FEMA Official
- Individual Assistance Center (checking your FEMA application status online)
- FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers
Don’t need assistance at the moment? Bookmark this for later reference or read through the article to learn what you might need to do during or after an emergency situation.
Dealt with FEMA in the past? Share your inside tips below in the Comments!
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