Get FEMA disaster assistance approved and appeal a denial

  1. Confirm the declaration covers your county
    20 min

    What this step produces: one written line — your county, the FEMA disaster number, the declaration date, and whether Individual Assistance (IA) covers your county. That line is the base every later step builds on. The tricky part: a declaration can authorize Public Assistance (PA) — roads, public buildings — for counties without authorizing IA for a single one, and only IA money goes to households.

    1. Open fema.gov/disaster/declarations and filter the list by your state.
    2. Find the event that damaged your area; note the declaration number (major disasters read DR-xxxx, emergency declarations EM-xxxx) and the declaration date shown.
    3. Open the declaration detail and read the county list under Individual Assistance (IA). Public Assistance (PA) is a separate list and does not cover households.
    4. Cross-check the same county list on your state emergency-management agency’s site, which republishes the federal declaration.
    5. Write the record now: county, disaster number, declaration date, and IA: yes or no.