Here’s what you need to submit a claim for storm damage to FEMA

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration in Georgia Thursday as Hurricane Helene nears landfall.

Biden’s declaration means the state can get federal assistance for any storm-related property damage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinates all disaster relief efforts, including approving financial claims related to damage from Helene. Renters or homeowners should keep a checklist in case help is needed, because FEMA is more likely to approve financial reimbursement claims which have supporting documentation.

LIVE UPDATES: Hurricane Helene strengthens; Tropical Storm warning in effect for north Georgia

Over the last two decades, FEMA has approved 23,849 homeowner assistance applications for storm relief in homeowner assistance applications for storm relief in Georgia; for renters, it has approved 14,253 statewide applications.

Here’s what you need to submit a FEMA assistance claim:

• Your social security card;
• Your ID;
• All of your insurance information, meaning any coverage you have, from mobile home and car insurance to flood insurance;
• An inventory list of all the damages;
• And records showing your income at the time of the damage.

Here are the counties for which funding for disaster relief will be provided at 75 percent federal matching funds: Atkinson, Baker, Banks, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Dawson, Decatur, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Grady, Habersham, Hall, Irwin, Jackson, Lanier, Lee, Lowndes, Lumpkin, Macon, Miller, Mitchell, Pickens, Pulaski, Quitman, Rabun, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stephens, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Towns, Turner, Union, Webster, White, Wilcox, and Worth.

Public assistance emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding for the counties of Appling, Bacon, Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Burke, Butts, Camden, Carroll, Catoosa, Charlton, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Dade, DeKalb, Dodge, Douglas, Elbert, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Glascock, Glynn, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, McDuffie, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pierce, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Richmond, Rockdale, Screven, Spalding, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker, Walton, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Whitfield, Wilkes, and Wilkinson.

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>> WHAT TO DO IF YOUR HOME IS DAMAGED BY TREES? Take pictures. Get quotes. And don’t pay upfront. Better Call Harry has what you need to do - and not do - if your home is damaged by fallen trees and branches.

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