Tens of Thousands of Pennsylvanians Register with FEMA for Irene and Lee Damage

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians in 28 disaster-declared counties have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.   However, time is running short for anyone else to register if they think they may need help recovering from the storms.  The deadline is November 14th and the application for an SBA loan is also due by that date.

FEMA spokeswoman Susan Solomon says you can always turn down the help if you find you don’t need it. The number to call is 1-800-621-3362.

Solomon says there are a lot of people who feel they can take care of themselves and they don’t want to take help away from anyone else.  She says when you register with FEMA, it does not add to or take away from what anyone else might receive in disaster assistance.

Solomon says there are also people who may be waiting for their insurance settlement.  She says they want those people to also register with FEMA. It will allow them to be eligible for certain types of help in case something goes wrong with their insurance settlement.

More than 85 thousand households have registered and FEMA has already approved over 115 million in disaster assistance grants in Pennsylvania.