Three months after the January flooding and two months since the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a snapshot of the help it has provided over 60 days.
Why it matters
FEMA stopped taking applications for assistance on Friday, April 19. Agency spokesman Gerard Hammink said to date, FEMA has received more than 7,000 applications for help after the January 22 floods.
So far this year, there have been 27 federal disasters declared across the country.
"It's really hard to compare disaster to disaster. But if you just look at that number (for San Diego) ... you can just really see the need that was out there," Hammink said.
Hammink noted most of the grant money has already been distributed to the victims.
By the numbers
Currently, more than 2,898 households have been approved for FEMA grants, and over $22 million in federal assistance approved.
Then, $18.3 million of that was in housing grants covering home repairs and rental assistance.
"There are about $9 million in grants for those essential critical home repairs and then there's another about $9 million in temporary rental assistance," Hammink said.
Almost $3.9 million was also approved for other essential needs, including medical expenses and lost personal possessions. For example, Hammink said, "If someone needed their car to get to work, just to function, we have done grants to help them replace that."
Closer look
FEMA is still working through applications and the approval process.
Hammick said home inspection requests have risen in the last couple of days, "That's a good thing, because that means that more home inspections were ordered as more applications were processed," Hammick said.
He noted grants are not approved until home inspections are done to verify damage.
Looking ahead
While grant applications are closed, homeowners and renters can also apply for Small Business Administration loans. Unlike grants, however, these loans need to be paid back in 30 years.
To help streamline the application process, both FEMA disaster recovery centers in Mountain View and Spring Valley have been converted to SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Centers.
