FEMA disaster assistance applications are open to Louisiana residents impacted by Hurricane Francine, and residents in need are encouraged to apply online or call FEMA to determine eligibility for financial aid.
“FEMA may be able to help with severe needs, displacement, temporary lodging, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs,” FEMA officials said via a release.
Financial assistance is available to eligible homeowners and renters in St. Charles Parish as well as those in St. James, St. John the
Baptist, Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes.
Hurricane Francine made landfall on Sept. 11 as a Category 2 hurricane and dumped about nine inches of water on St. Charles Parish, flooding nearly 300 homes according to parish officials.
Water ponded quickly during Hurricane Francine because of the large amount of rain that hit after a rainy weekend when the ground was already saturated, St. Charles Parish interim public information officer Francesca Holt Blanchard said, noting the parish’s pumps can handle an inch of rain for the first hour of rainfall and a half inch of rain every hour after that.
The storm lingered over the area longer than expected, and many residents paid the price in terms of storm damage.
St. Charles Parish’s east bank residents took the brunt of the storm in terms of numbers – of the estimated 287 homes in St. Charles Parish that experienced flooding, about two-thirds are on the east bank.
Homeowners and renters can apply for assistance several ways:
• Go online to disasterassistance.gov.
• Download the FEMA App for mobile devices.
• Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.
• To view an accessible video about how to apply visit: Three Ways to Register for FEMA Disaster Assistance – YouTube.
To apply, one will need:
• 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.
It is advised by FEMA that applying through disasterassistance.gov is the fastest way to apply.
