PERKINSTON, Miss.—More than a month after Tropical Storm Arthur flooded her Stone County home, Shelby Allen and her family are living in a camper outside the house they hope to repair.
Allen said 5 feet of water entered their home during the June storm, destroying most of the family’s belongings and leaving the family grieving the loss of two dogs.
“(I thought), ‘What are we going to do now?’ We have no home,” Allen said. “The whole inside is all gutted out, and there’s nothing in there.”
Allen’s family is among hundreds seeking FEMA Individual Assistance after President Donald Trump approved a federal disaster declaration covering damage from Tropical Storm Arthur between June 18-20. The program may help eligible residents with temporary housing, home repairs and other disaster-related needs.
For Allen, applying for assistance was one of the first steps toward rebuilding.
“It was really easy,” Allen said. “Just go online to DisasterAssistance.gov, and it tells you how to do everything on there, or you can call the 1-800 number and do it over the phone.”
Scott Simmons, director of external communications for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, or MEMA, said about 300 applications had already been submitted under the Tropical Storm Arthur disaster declaration.
“They don’t have to wait for a disaster recovery center to open,” Simmons said. “They can go online to DisasterAssistance.gov and start that process.”
Allen said she was told to watch for a phone call and expect someone to inspect the property.
“They didn’t really say how long it might take,” Allen said. “They did say, ‘Keep an eye on the phone for the phone call, and someone will come out and inspect.’”
Simmons said each application follows its own timeline. Some applicants receive assistance within about a week, while others take longer because additional documentation is needed.
To speed up the process, he said applicants should have their Social Security number, insurance information and documents showing whether the damaged property was a primary residence or rental property.
“If you have insurance, you have to show that you filed a claim,” Simmons said. “You can’t say, ‘I have insurance, but I didn’t file a claim.’”
He said eligible assistance may include temporary housing, home repairs and certain disaster-related expenses. Depending on their circumstances, some uninsured residents may also qualify for additional assistance or be referred for low-interest disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Simmons cautioned that federal disaster assistance is intended to help residents recover rather than replace everything they lost.
“The idea of these types of recovery efforts is to help people get back on their feet, not to make them better than they were before,” Simmons said.
When asked what she hopes FEMA can provide, Allen’s answer was simple.
“Help us get a new home,” Allen said.
She said repairing or replacing the house would be difficult without outside assistance.
“It’ll probably take a lot—a lot of money that we don’t really have,” Allen said. “That’s why I’m hoping that FEMA will help us out a good bit.”
While Allen waits for a decision, she said the hardest part has been watching her children cope with losing the only home they have ever known.
“My kids, they’ve had a hard time, especially losing their pets,” Allen said. “Especially my youngest one. It’s been very hard on her.”
Residents in Stone, Pearl River, Harrison and Hancock counties affected by Tropical Storm Arthur can apply for FEMA Individual Assistance through DisasterAssistance.gov, the FEMA app or by calling the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362.
This article first appeared on RHCJC and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
