In addition to Governor Mike Dunleavy declaring a disaster declaration last week, FEMA announced on Saturday that federal disaster assistance was made available to the state of Alaska to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by a severe storm, flooding, and landslides from Sept. 15-20.
“This declaration includes support to the following regional educational attendance areas Bering Strait, Kashunamiut, Lower Kuskokwim and Lower Yukon,” according to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. “Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs. It can also include low-cost loans for uninsured losses as well as going to help reimburse the costs that the state is incurring for the emergency measures that they are taking right now to stabilize the incident in these communities.”
Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) or by using the FEMA App. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service.
Criswell added, “When it comes to our role, when it comes to FEMA’s role in supporting this response, between our Alaska area office, which has held a permanent presence here in the state since 2007, and our national and regional incident management teams that were here for an exercise when the storm hit, we had some of our best people already on the ground well in advance of the storm.”
Federal funding also is available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures in the Regional Educational Attendance Areas of Bering Strait, Kashunamiut, Lower Kuskokwim and Lower Yukon.
Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Click here to view the governor’s latest press conference regarding the storms that battered Western Alaska. Click here for more information.