ORLANDO, Fla. – Some federal disaster assistance programs benefit individual households but there is one program that helps everyone. FEMA.
Local governments and certain nonprofits across Florida will benefit from more than $100 million in FEMA Public Assistance grants to reimburse costs incurred responding to and recovering from Hurricane Irma.
PA benefits Floridians because it provides money for projects and services in their community. It reimburses disaster-related expenses to clean up neighborhoods, ensure public safety, save lives, repair bridges and roads, restore utilities and repair and rebuild public facilities.
Funding for disaster-related expenses will continue to increase. More than 1,000 organizations spanning from Jacksonville to Key West are working with the state and FEMA to gather and submit documents to move recovery forward. FEMA awards grants after it receives and reviews required documentation to validate federal disaster assistance eligibility.
FEMA obligates grants to the state, which then distributes the reimbursement award directly to the applicant. The agency funds at least 75 percent of each project and the remaining amount comes from nonfederal sources.
Below are recent projects FEMA has approved around Florida to reimburse communities for Hurricane Irma-related expenses. FEMA provided 100 percent of the projects except if noted:
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Central Florida Electrical Cooperative: About $1.5 million will reimburse Hurricane Irma-related expenses to replace electrical materials like poles and transformers. The nonprofit provides electric power to over 35,600 customers in Dixie, Gilchrist and Levy counties and portions of Alachua, Lafayette and Marion counties. FEMA provided 75 percent of the $1.9 million project and the remaining amount will come from nonfederal sources.
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City of Plantation: More than $9.2 million will reimburse the Broward County city for one of several projects related to expenses to remove storm-related debris and clear city streets. FEMA provided 90 percent of the $10.2 million project and the remaining will come from nonfederal sources.
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Collier County Sheriff’s Office: Approximately $5.8 million will reimburse Hurricane Irma-related life-saving and public safety actions. Reimbursable expenses include securing critical infrastructure, sand bagging and other measures to ensure public safety.
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Orange County Sheriff’s Office: More than $1 million will reimburse Hurricane Irma-related life-saving and public safety actions. Reimbursable expenses include evacuations, serving shelters and other measures to ensure public safety.
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Town of Hilliard: More than $1 million will reimburse Hurricane Irma-related repairs to street culverts in the Nassau County town. FEMA provided 75 percent of this $1.4 million project and the rest will come from nonfederal sources.
Additional Forms of Financial Help
PA funds are in addition to other forms of federal disaster assistance that has helped survivors across Florida after Hurricane Irma.
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Survivors have received more than $1 billion in FEMA grants to repair homes to make them habitable, help pay for somewhere to stay if the storm displaced them and replace essential items.
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The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved about $1.4 billion in low-interest disaster loans to repair and rebuild homes and businesses.
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National Flood Insurance Program policyholders have received more than $919 million in payments.
For more Hurricane Irma recovery information, visit www.FEMA.gov/IrmaFL.
Follow FEMA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Twitter at @FEMARegion4 and @FLSERT. You may also visit FEMA and the Division’s Facebook pages at Facebook.com/FEMA and Facebook.com/FloridaSERT.
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Jeff Atwater is an avid fisherman and boating enthusiast. He is particularly interested in the environment and how to keep the planet safe.