BREAKING NEWS: Survivors can now apply for disaster assistance

After sending a letter requesting a major disaster declaration for the CNMI on Oct. 27, 2018, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres announced today that President Donald J. Trump has approved his request for a major disaster declaration.

“I received a call this morning from the White House that President Trump has approved our request for a Major Disaster Declaration. This means that accelerated federal assistance for disaster assistance, technical assistance, and public health and safety will continue to be provided,” Torres said.

With the major disaster declaration, Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation will be provided for Rota, Saipan, Tinian, and the Northern Islands.

Individual Assistance can help support recovery from a major disaster. Survivors can register for Disaster Assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov. They can also call the FEMA hotline at 1-800-621-3362 and through TTY at 1-800-462-7585.

Due to the fact that CNMI residents do not utilize physical addresses, please put the following information into the “Address field” when registering online, in order to ensure your home’s location is accurately reflected in our system:

• Place your Lot Number, then street, then village (to obtain your lot number, call the Land Commissioner at 670-322-9987)
• Note:  Do NOT put a PO Box into the address field, or your application will not go through
• For “City,” put the island on which you reside
• For “State,” type “MP”
• In the notes section, put a description of your home (e.g., “Blue house with white trim, 3 houses from the corner of Main & Beach Rd., behind the Shell Gas Station)

Survivors are urged to have this information ready during the application process:

• Social Security number (one per household)
• Address of the damaged home or apartment
• Description of the damage
• Information about insurance coverage
• Telephone number
• Mailing address
• Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds

Also, survivors are urged to take photos, save receipts, and document damage within their homes.

CNMI leadership will continue to prioritize every person and family impacted by the storm through the coordination of distribution of relief goods, temporary shelter resources, and through partnership with federal and private sector partners on assistance.

Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available to CNMI businesses and residents through the Small Business Administration.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available to

businesses regardless of any property damage.

Interest rates can be as low as 3.675 percent for businesses, 2.5 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 2 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition. As soon as Federal-State Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout the affected area, SBA will provide one-on-one assistance to disaster loan applicants. Additional information and details on the location of disaster recovery centers is available by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955.

“I want to thank our President, the White House, FEMA, our federal partners, the Red Cross, the Legislature, and everyone in our community from the first responders who helped get this done expeditiously. Our islands are resilient. We will not stop until every person affected is taken care of,” Torres said. (HSEM)