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It’s easy to be confused by all the disaster resources available as you recover from the severe storms and tornadoes that occurred March 31, but here is a breakdown of agencies, programs, phone numbers and website links that may assist you with your recovery.
Insurance
- If you have insurance, contact your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance provider to file a claim. If you have not filed a claim with your insurance company or provided a copy of your insurance settlement approval or denial to FEMA, you will likely receive a notification that there is "no decision." This means FEMA may need additional information from you to continue processing your application.
FEMA Assistance
- FEMA disaster assistance may be available for survivors who live in one of the three designated counties for Individual Assistance, Cross, Lonoke, and Pulaski.
- Assistance may help pay uninsured or underinsured losses such as home repair for disaster-related damage, rental assistance, reimbursement for lodging expenses for individuals whose home was inaccessible or unhabitable during the disaster, medical expenses incurred from this disaster or other disaster-related needs.
- Individuals and households who have immediate or critical needs because they are displaced from their primary dwelling by the recent tornadoes on March 31 in Arkansas may be eligible for a special FEMA financial assistance program, Critical Needs Assistance (CNA).
- Lifesaving and life-sustaining items are covered by the CNA program. This includes, but is not limited to, water, food, first aid, prescriptions, infant formula, diapers, consumable medical supplies, durable medical equipment, personal hygiene items, and fuel for transportation.
- CNA is a one-time $700 payment per eligible household. The State of Arkansas requested that FEMA authorize CNA for specific geographic areas that are expected to be inaccessible for seven days or longer. To be eligible for CNA Applicants must register with FEMA no later than April 15.
- To apply for FEMA assistance, add information or check the status of your application, visit disasterassistance.gov or call 800-621-3362. If you use video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service.
Arkansas Recovery Website
- On April 3, Arkansas launched helparkansas.com, a one-stop website for tornado recovery resources.
- This website includes information on federal, state, local, and charitable resources for tornado victims, as well as volunteer and charity opportunities for Arkansans seeking to help.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- The USDA Rural Development announced in early April that Home Repair Grant Limits have increased in response to the March 31 severe storms and tornadoes.
- Funding is available through USDA Rural Development’s Single Family Housing Home Repair Loan and Grant program that helps income-eligible homeowners in rural communities make health and safety repairs to their homes.
- Grant limits have been increased from $10,000 to $40,675 in the FEMA-designated counties (Cross, Lonoke and Pulaski) for residents that are eligible to apply for financial and direct services.
- For information on how to apply for the Home Repair Program, visit the Arkansas Rural Development website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/ar or call the Arkansas Rural Development Disaster Hotline at 501-301-3211, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Increased grant limits are available until September 28, 2023.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- HUD is implementing federal disaster relief for the state of Arkansas to assist state and local recovery efforts for areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes.
- Effective immediately, HUD is:
- Providing a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as well as foreclosures of mortgages to Native American borrowers guaranteed under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program. There is also a 90-day extension granted automatically for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. The moratorium and extension are effective as of the President’s disaster declaration date.
- Homeowners affected by the disaster should contact their mortgage or loan servicer immediately for assistance. Conventional mortgage holders may also be eligible for additional relief through their mortgage holder.
- Call the FHA Resource Center at 1-800-304-9320 for additional information. To learn more about disaster relief options for FHA homeowners visit the FHA Disaster Relief site.
Donations - Statewide
Power and Safety
Economic Recovery
Small Business Administration: Applicants (businesses, most private non-profits, homeowners and renters) for low-interest disaster loan may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at disasterloanassistance.sba.gov. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance.
- Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call 800-877-8339.
- Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
Additional State and Local Resources
For the latest information, visit fema.gov/disaster/4698. Follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account twitter.com/FEMARegion6 and FEMA Region 6 Facebook page www.facebook.com/FEMARegion6.
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FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters.
Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 833-285-7448). If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
Recently, U.S. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced a policy change granting 12 months of no payments and 0% interest. This pertains to all disaster loans approved in response to disasters declared on or after September 21, 2022, through September 30, 2023. This policy change will benefit disaster survivors and help them to decrease the overall cost of recovery by reducing the amount of accrued interest they must repay.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is the federal government’s primary source of funds for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private, nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters, fund repairs or rebuilding efforts, and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services.
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