Florida - Thursday December 15, 2022: President Biden has approved an additional major disaster declaration for communities affected by Hurricane Nicole.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says this latest declaration authorizes more funding to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts. Specifically, it will provide grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster, and will be available to individuals affected by Nicole in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties.
Nicole made landfall on November 7 just south of Vero Beach as a low level Category 1 Hurricane.
The additional Federal funding is also available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by Hurricane Nicole in Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Martin, Nassau, Palm Beach, St. Johns, St. Lucie and Volusia counties. In particular Federal funds are available for communities to restore damaged "engineered beaches".
In addition, funds are also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Affected survivors can apply for disaster assistance at: www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling 800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA mobile app. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service.
The Biden Administration has already provided Florida with over $3.69 billion for Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, including $814 million that FEMA put directly into the hands of survivors to help jumpstart their recovery. FEMA has also provided more than $1.2 billion dollars to National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders to date.
Thomas J. McCool has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas. Additional designations may be made at a later date.