To Qualify for Federal Assistance, You Must Apply with FEMA
CRANSTON, R.I. – RealEstateRama – Survivors of the severe storms and flooding that occurred Dec. 17–19, 2023 and Jan. 9-13, 2024, living in Kent, Providence or Washington counties may have already reported their damages to the State of Rhode Island, spoken to someone from FEMA, or registered for assistance with a community organization. That does not mean you have applied for federal assistance with FEMA.
In order to be eligible for federal assistance, you must apply directly with FEMA.
Remember, renters and homeowners must apply with FEMA to be eligible for federal assistance. Businesses can only apply to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for assistance.
FEMA’s Individual Assistance may be able to help with:
- Lodging Expense Reimbursement
- Rental Assistance for Temporary Housing
- Repairs and Out-of-Pocket Expenses
There are several ways to apply for FEMA assistance:
- Visit a Disaster Recovery Center. To find a center near you, go online to: DRC Locator, or text DRC along with your Zip Code to 43362 (Ex: DRC 04074)
- Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. Help is available in most languages. The Helpline is available daily from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET.
- Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov (also in Spanish).
- Download the FEMA mobile app (also in Spanish), available at Google Play or the Apple App Store.
For more information about how an SBA loan may benefit you, visit sba.gov/disaster, call 800-659-2955 or send an email to ">
Applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal at https://lending.sba.gov.
For the latest information, visit 4765 | FEMA.gov or 4766 | FEMA.gov. Follow FEMA on X, formerly known as Twitter, at twitter.com/femaregion1 and at facebook.com/fema.
For updates on the Rhode Island response and recovery, follow the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency on Twitter at twitter.com/RhodeIslandEMA, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RhodeIslandEMA, or visit www.riema.ri.gov.
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FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters.
All FEMA disaster assistance will be provided without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex (including sexual harassment), sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, disability, limited English proficiency, or economic status. If you believe your civil rights are being violated, you can call the Civil Rights Resource line at 833-285-7448.
