Volusia Offers Assistance For Hurricane Irma Damage As FEMA Deadline Approaches

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Volusia County, FL - Volusia County residents who need insurance deductible payments or home repair because of damage to their primary residence caused by Hurricane Irma may apply for assistance through the county’s Community Assistance Division.

Applications for the Hurricane Irma Disaster Recovery program are available online at

Volusia.org/community-assistance and at these locations:

  • Volusia County Community Assistance office, 110 Rich Ave., DeLand, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
  • Volusia County Public Library branches during regular branch hours (for a list of locations, visit www.volusialibrary.org).

The disaster recovery program is funded by Volusia County’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program to assist residents who own and occupy their home and have already applied for assistance from FEMA or the Small Business Administration. If residents have homeowners insurance, they must have already filed a claim.

The program is income-based. Applicants’ household income may not exceed 120 percent of the area median income (AMI). The majority of available funds are specifically for residents with incomes below 80 percent of the AMI; however, residents with income between 80 and 120 percent are still encouraged to apply. Applicants must live in Volusia County, but not within the city limits of Deltona or Daytona Beach. Residents applying for assistance for manufactured homes are eligible only if the home was constructed after June 1994 and the resident owns the land where the home is located.

Completed applications may be dropped off in person or mailed to Volusia County Community Assistance, 110 W. Rich Ave., DeLand, FL 32720. Residents who are disabled and need a reasonable accommodation to apply for this program may contact Lori Brown at 386-736-5955 or lbrown@volusia.org.

Volusia County residents can visit any public library to access a computer and the internet to register for FEMA assistance or other disaster assistance. If residents do not have a library card, a guest pass will be issued to use the public-access computers. People also can bring their own equipment and access the free Wi-Fi to complete online applications.

To date, FEMA has had 58,978 registrations in Volusia and approved $34,843,261 in Individuals and Household Program (IHP) funds. Residents who sustained damage to their home due to Hurricane Irma are encouraged to register with FEMA for possible assistance. Only one registration per household is necessary. The deadline to register is Nov. 9. There are two ways to register for FEMA assistance:

  • Online at www.disasterassistance.gov.
  • Call FEMA’s toll-free number at 800-621-FEMA (3362). Applicants who use 711 or video relay service may call 800-621-3362. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and a TTY may call 800-462-7585 directly. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS) may call 800-621-3362.

U.S. Small Business Administration Disaster Loans are also available in FL, but the deadline is fast approaching. To date, the SBA has approved more than $97 million in SBA Disaster

Loans in Florida, and more than $1.1 million in Volusia County. Second to insurance, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest disaster loans are the primary source of federal assistance to rebuild disaster-damaged private property for homeowners and businesses. The filing deadline for physical property damage is Nov. 9. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 11, 2018. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA's secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

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