Get Ready to Apply for Disaster Assistance

September is National Preparedness Month. Each year National Preparedness Month is recognized to promote family and community disaster and emergency planning. Each year FEMA puts out a themed campaign during National Preparedness Month to bring attention to the need to prepare for potential disasters.

When disaster hits, the main thing you don’t have is time. That’s one of the reasons why there is a National Preparedness Month. Your community needs to be prepared ahead of time for potential disasters. This includes being ready to apply for disaster assistance. Time is of the essence when applying for assistance. But time is something that communities have little of as they are stretched thin just attempting to provide a sense of stability in the chaos of the situation.

A recent National League of Cities article dives into the need to be prepared to apply for assistance when the time comes.

Is Your City Ready to Apply for Federal Assistance Following a Presidential Disaster Declaration?

It is a good, brief summary of why and how communities should be prepared to apply for assistance ahead of an event.

Working with FEMA

The article stresses the importance of reaching out to FEMA ahead of an event. Opening a dialog with FEMA representatives now will save time and help cut down on confusion and delay when disaster strikes. With many assistance sources, there are many steps to the process with a myriad of paperwork to fill out. Familiarizing yourself now will help when there are many more issues on your mind than filling out paperwork.

It is also important to get your elected officials in the loop as well. Having just the City Clerk or the City Administrator familiar with what is necessary is not a wise path forward. Mainly, it is important in a sense of redundancy in case that person is not able to perform his/her duties when disaster strikes. But it is also important for the elected officials to know the processes, timelines, and requirements for when they take to their constituents. That way they’re armed with the correct information, giving them the ability to provide clarity and limit frustration.

Links to Additional Information

The article also provides links to other resources for federal disaster assistance. This includes:

• FEMA Individuals and Households Program (IHP)
• Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) for residents
• The Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Assistance
• HUD disaster recovery funds (CDBG-DR)
• Public Transportation Emergency Relief (ER)

The article also includes 15 other links to helpful additional resources on the subject. One could really “go down the rabbit hole” of reading up on disaster preparedness through the information and links provided.

I urge you to take the time to read this National League of Cities article now. You can dive deeper into the subject through the links to additional information as time allows.