It's been a long week of cleaning, ripping out drywall, and airing out Sy Suire's humid home after it flooded Sarasota's Pinecraft area during Hurricane Debby last week.
"The first few days were horrible, but since then, it's kind of been like a new beginning," Suire said with blue gloves on, hauling out items from his home.
It's an optimistic outlook he has thanks to friends and co-workers who have helped this past week. This after he had no financial hope at all. Suire dropped his flood insurance coverage just months ago after new FEMA maps carved his home out of a flood zone.
"The water was up to 38 inches," he added. "It was a gamble, but because of how high insurance had brought my monthly mortgage payment, I had to give up something."
His only hope would be FEMA.
"The first day I was able to get into the home, I called and tried to submit a claim, but they said at the time it had not been declared an emergency," he added.
That has since changed. On Saturday, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for 10 counties in Florida, including Sarasota and Manatee counties, opening up federal funding through FEMA.
FEMA spokesperson Nate Custer said teams are now in town, ready to help.
"They are going door-to-door, disaster assistance teams. They will be two-person teams," he said. "Take photos of everything if you haven't already done so, save receipts. FEMA looks at everything like that."
Custer said that after applying, you will get a call from a FEMA inspector. They will make an appointment to look at your property and see what happened.
"If it's a case where emergency home repairs might put you on the road to recovery, FEMA will issue you a grant."
Homeowners and renters have up to 60 days to apply. Custer said FEMA disaster assistance is not available to secondary or vacation homes.
Here's a list of what FEMA said you will need to apply:
- A current phone number where you can be contacted.
- Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying.
- Your Social Security number.
- A general list of damage and losses.
- Banking information if you choose direct deposit.
- If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name.
There are several ways to apply: Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA App,or call 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET daily.
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