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Still Dealing With Irma? Help Is Still Available

WLRN
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long speaks about Hurricane Irma at FEMA headquarters in Washington in September.

There is assistance available to homeowners and business owners who are still recovering from Hurricane Irma damage. We spoke with John Mills of FEMA and Richard Daigle of the SBA on Sundial to answer listener questions about how to get that assistance.

Where are the FEMA disaster recovery centers? They're open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Miami-Dade County 

Miami Dade College (no closing date yet).

Kendall Campus Bldg. K 

11011 SW 104th St.

Miami, FL 33176

Miami-Dade County 

Portofino Plaza (closes Nov. 24)

650 NE 22nd Terrace

Homestead, FL 33033

Broward County

Atrium West (closes Nov. 24)

7771 W Oakland Park Blvd

Sunrise, FL 33351

Palm Beach County

Carolyn Sims Center (no closing date yet)

225 NW 12th Ave.

Boynton Beach, FL 33435

There are four Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) open in the Florida Keys (Monroe County). They include Marathon, Big Pine, Key West and Islamorada.

Call the FEMA helpine 1-800-621-3362

From FEMA:

HOME INSPECTIONS AND INSURANCE

FEMA has done 352,000 home inspections in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties. About 93 percent of home inspections have been completed. As more inspections are done, more FEMA grant money for uninsured losses, such as for home repairs, may be approved for survivors. By law, FEMA cannot duplicate insurance payments. About 233,000 insurance claims have been filed in these four counties, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s Hurricane Irma webpage.

RENTAL ASSISTANCE STILL AVAILABLE

Rental assistance money from FEMA helps survivors rent an available rental property if their home is unsafe. People who still cannot live in their primary residence may be eligible for continued rental assistance. They can visit one of the FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers or call FEMA at 1-800-621-3362 to request continued rental assistance. Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis. FEMA lets each household know what it is eligible to receive.

TEMPORARY HOTEL PROGRAM / TRANSITIONAL SHELTERING

As of this week, people from more than 1,900 households in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties who have uninhabitable primary residences and have encountered difficulty finding an appropriate place to rent are staying in hotels in FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.

That number is down by 600 over the past two weeks and down from a cumulative high of about 8,100. The temporary hotel program deadline can be extended more than once, based on survivor needs and rental property availability. Continued eligibility for each household is determined on a case-by-case basis, so the check-out deadline may or may not apply to a specific household. It may be extended beyond Thanksgiving and into December for those who are eligible. FEMA speaks with each household one-on-one to determine continued eligibility. Survivors choose a hotel on their own.

Luis Hernandez is an award-winning journalist and host whose career spans three decades in cities across the U.S. He’s the host of WLRN’s newest daily talk show, Sundial (Mon-Thu), and the news anchor every afternoon during All Things Considered.