Texas Wildfire Aid Tops $32M

Close to three months after the Texas wildfires were declared major disasters, assistance to survivors has topped $32 million. 

“Our primary goals have been to ensure wildfire survivors are safe and secure, and that they get the assistance they need to begin rebuilding their lives,” says Federal Coordinating Officer Kevin Hannes of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “Our assistance has averaged $10 million a month since the declaration, and that's making a difference.”

The assistance funds break down to the following:

• $10.5 million in rental assistance and grants to repair and rebuild homes
• $2.4 million for other disaster-related needs such as personal property, medical care, and funeral expenses
• $62,000 in disaster unemployment assistance has gone to workers, or the self-employed who lost their jobs, or have been unable to work due to the disaster
• $18 million, from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), has been approved in low-interest disaster loans for 162 homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes.
• $1.3 million has been obligated to the state under FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) program, whose applicants include the state and its agencies, local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations

More than 4,000 wildfire survivors have registered with FEMA across the 23 counties designated for individual assistance.

Eligible applicants in 31 Texas counties can apply for FEMA PA reimbursements for the cost of removing wildfire-related debris from public rights of way, for measures taken to protect lives and property before, during and after the blazes, and to help defray the cost of repairing infrastructure damaged or destroyed as a result of the wildfires.