Following a disaster, many people have had difficulty navigating the maze of processes required to get the disaster relief that they are entitled to. Likely all of us at one point or another have become frustrated with even simple things — like me trying to get my dental insurance renewed for another year this past week. Three phone calls and over an hour on the phone just trying to give them a new credit card number.
You can imagine the difficulty of navigating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) process for getting financial assistance following the loss of your home or business. I think not having to go through the Small Business Administration (SBA) is a major win for getting loans.
See the major changes being made at this site: "
Biden-Harris Administration Reforms Disaster Assistance Program to Help Survivors Recover Faster."
If you are looking for more of a narrative on these changes, check out this
Washington Post article: "
‘We can do better’: FEMA makes sweeping changes to speed up disaster aid."
The above becomes effective in March of this year.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
