FEMA Opens Disaster Recovery Center In Minnesota – 19 Counties Eligible For Assistance

I spoke today with Kimberly from FEMA who informed me of financial assistance and grants available for people who suffered losses and damage after severe storms and flooding.

The specific timeline that was declared a disaster was for flooding and storms that took place between June 16 - July 4.

The assistance is for individuals, whether homeowners or renters and comes in the form of a grant that does not need to be repaid. Individuals can apply for assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app, by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362, or in-person at a Disaster Recovery Center. To find a center nearest you, visit FEMA.gov/DRC.

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After applying, a FEMA specialist will contact you to set up an appointment to view the damage to your home. Be sure to answer phone numbers you don't recognize from out of state, there's a good chance that could be the FEMA specialist.

The specialist will assess the damage and may also provide tips on how to make the property more disaster-resistant.

Individual assistance for this disaster applies to residents in the following counties: Blue Earth, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Waseca, and Watonwan.

Individual assistance from FEMA is only for primary homes.

Kimberly also wanted to clarify that assistance is only available for primary homes. Rental properties, second homes, and vacation homes aren't eligible for assistance.

 Small Businesses can get federal loan assistance.

While small businesses aren't eligible for individual assistance grants, they can still get help from the federal government. The United States Small Business Administration provides low-interest disaster loans to help businesses recover from declared disasters. You can learn more about that and apply for a loan at sba.gov.

Disaster Recovery Center Opens In Mankato

Fema announced that a Disaster Recovery Center will open today, August 14th to help residents kickstart their recovery after the sever storms and flooding. It's located at the Blue Earth County Justice Center, 401 Carver Road in Mankato, Minnesota. Officials and specialists will be on hand to answer questions and help survivors apply for disaster assistance from 7:30 am - 6:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday.