Howdy:

I posted quite a bit of information in my local neighborhood FB group, but it's relevant here as well.

Quick background, I live in spring and my house was flooded with 6 to 8" of water, we didn't have flood insurance and we live barely in the 500 yr flood plain.


1. Max FEMA grant is 33.3K (avg is lower, but not specified...)
2. SBA loan rate for home owner is 1.75%
3. Even if you don't want to get SBA loan, fill out application NOW as that helps FEMA process / make decisions about your grant status
4. Even if you have flood insurance, get a FEMA application as it could help with under-insured cases...
5. Don't wait for the FEMA adjuster to start repairs, but obviously document everything (damage, receipts and etc.)
6. Household income does play a part in how much grant money your household could receive (more $$ yall make, less grant money you qualify for), but flip side is SBA loans see that as good thing so you could qualify for a larger loan up to $200K max for home owners and $2M for businesses. (FYI I would not lie as they ask for SS# so they can and will check previous IRS tax returns)
7. Also possible to be denied for any FEMA grant money based on good financial standing. I've also seen SBA loans being denied to people that are on a work visa (not a full / unrestricted green card yet).
8. Private loans from say your church, friends, "go fund me" sites should not affect FEMA grant availability as it's mostly based on your current income and overall financial status. (again they have your SS# so I would not skew #'s lower as they can / will check previous tax returns).
9. FEMA turn around time between application and someone reaching out to you is 10 days (ish).

2nd part of my long post....

So I finally got my FEMA grant and its about where I expected it (half of max). I got a phone call from the FEMA inspector about 8 days after I called FEMA to update my status as "accessible". He was in the area and wanted to show up in 10 minutes. He came to the house and started off with basic questions and confirmed my proof of residency (TDL) after which he asked if I purchased any chainsaws or dehumidifiers post hurricane in the aid of clean up. He did not want digital photos, he wanted the actual paper receipt and was explaining that this way fema was cutting down on fraud (he wrote his badge # on the paper receipt so I couldn't pass it to another home owner).
He then measured all the rooms, looked for the high water mark (which was difficult since all the wet drywall had been cut out weeks ago...) didn't care to see any pictures (even though I took pictures of every room with a tape measure clearly indicating high water marks), drywall samples nor carpet.
We walked each room and he asked specifically what got damaged in each room (he was only allowed to specify a certain list of things like bed, bed frame, night stand, desk, TV and / or radio) I would make sure in the non bed rooms (study, dining, living room) yall call out specifically what yall lost (dining room table / chairs, couches, rugs and etc).
He took some pictures of the house himself and off he went (this was Saturday 9/16 afternoon).
Monday I was checking the www.disasterassistance.gov to see if anything changed and sure enough I got some updated statuses with eligible amounts.
Tuesday morning I saw the direct deposits hit my checking account and tonight I got txt message about my status changing and got official eligibility letter which was a bit silly since the money was already in my checking account...
Pro tip:
Do not click the "appeal" button as that instantly starts the appeal process (no 2nd screen for confirmation) and I'm pretty sure I have to call back in cancel my appeal and actually get $$ for the "miscellaneous items" (ie dehumidifier).

Got my grant letter today. The amount is also about half the max grant. I'll take it. Honestly from horror stories during previous floods I wasn't expecting much if anything.