Hurricane Helene Survivors in Va. May Be Eligible for Reimbursement for Damage-Related Home Repairs

BRISTOL, Va.- If you completed home repairs due to damage from Hurricane Helene in Virginia, FEMA may be able to reimburse you.

Submit receipts to FEMA for home repair work not covered by insurance or other sources. FEMA may be able to reimburse impacted households in Bedford, Bland, Carroll, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe counties and the cities of Galax and Radford.

FEMA may be able to pay for the following as part of the Individual Assistance program:

• Cost of a professional, licensed technician who visited your home and prepared an estimate for repairs or replacement of disaster-damaged systems and uninsured or underinsured losses.
• Costs to rebuild or make basic repairs so your home is safe, sanitary, and functional. This includes replacing or repairing disaster-damaged:
  • Furnaces, hot water heaters, refrigerators, and stoves
  • Leaks in a roof that damaged ceilings
  • Subfloors in occupied parts of the home
  • Broken windows
  • Well and septic systems
  • The purchase or renting of generators or chainsaws due to damage from the storm.

When you submit documents, make sure to include your name, disaster number (DR-4831), and your FEMA application number on all documents that you send to FEMA. Keep original documents; you only need to provide copies to FEMA, which can include photos or an insurance claim. Make sure that documents such as receipts and cost estimates contain the contact information of the service provider.

If you lost a receipt, you can still provide that information to FEMA. You can reach out to your credit card company, the store you visited, or the contractor you worked with to ask for billing statements and receipts. You can also ask a company or contractor to write a letter stating what work was done.

If you have already applied for FEMA assistance and want FEMA to consider new expenses, you can make changes to your application. If you already received a FEMA determination letter and you don't agree with FEMA's decision, you can appeal by showing why you need FEMA assistance. The decision letter you get from FEMA will have more information about the types of documents you should send.

Visit a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) to get one-on-one help with next steps specific to your application. To find the DRC closest to you, including addresses and hours, visit FEMA.gov/drc or text DRC and a ZIP code to 43362.

How can I send documents or receipts?

You can send supporting documents and receipts to FEMA by:

• Bringing them to a Disaster Recovery Center where a FEMA specialist can help you upload them to your application.
• Uploading them yourself on DisasterAssistance.gov or on the FEMA mobile app.
• Mailing them to FEMA at P.O. Box 10055 Hyattsville, MD 20782-8055.
• Faxing them to 1-800-827-8112 and mark Attn: FEMA on the fax sheet.

FEMA has set up a rumor response webpage to clarify our role in the Helene response. Visit Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response | FEMA.gov.

For more information on Virginia's disaster recovery, visit vaemergency.gov, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management Facebook page , fema.gov/disaster/4831 and facebook.com/FEMA.

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FEMA's mission is helping people before, during and after disasters. FEMA Region 3's jurisdiction includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Follow us on X at x.com/FEMAregion3 and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/femaregion3.

To apply for FEMA assistance, please call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362, visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov/, or download and apply on the FEMA 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. Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages). Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency, or economic status. Any disaster survivor or member of the public may contact the FEMA Civil Rights Office if they feel that they have a complaint of discrimination. FEMA's Civil Rights Office can be contacted at [email protected] or toll-free at 833-285-7448.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects the civil rights of persons with disabilities. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by the federal government, federal contractors, and by recipients of federal financial assistance. Any recipient or sub-recipient of federal funds is required to make their programs accessible to individuals with disabilities. Its protections apply to all programs and businesses receiving any federal funds. This applies to all elements of physical/architectural, programmatic and communication accessibility in all services and activities conducted by or funded by FEMA. FEMA intends to comply with the Rehabilitation Act in all federally conducted and assisted programs in alignment with the principals of whole community inclusion and universal accessibility.

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