Presidentially declared disasters are eligible for help from FEMA. If your area is not eligible, state agencies and other organizations may offer assistance. Learn how to apply.
You must live in a presidentially declared disaster area to receive financial assistance from FEMA. Search for your area in the address lookup tool to find out if you are eligible.
Not everyone qualifies for all the assistance programs in an area. FEMA offers an anonymous tool to help you check your eligibility. Get a personalized list of the disaster assistance you qualify for.
There are four ways you can apply for FEMA disaster assistance:
To apply for disaster assistance, you will need:
You can check the status of your application if you provided your email address and contact information when you applied for assistance. There are three ways to check your application:
If you live in an area affected by a federally declared disaster, you may be eligible for IRS tax relief. Tax relief options may include a tax filing extension and an expedited refund.
Disaster Legal Services (DLS) provides free legal help to individuals who earn a low income and live in a federally declared disaster area. Legal advice is limited to cases that will not produce a fee. Cases that may generate a fee are turned over to a local lawyer referral service.
DLS may be able to help you with:
The president of the United States decides which natural disasters are federally declared. In many cases, this decision is based on whether state and local governments in the disaster area can provide enough assistance to disaster survivors.
If the disaster you experienced was not declared an emergency federally, you may be eligible for help from other resources: