Federal aid now available for Mangkhut victims

Immediately following the approval of the CNMI’s second request for a disaster declaration, federal assistance has been made available for eligible local residents and business owners who sustained property losses or damage as a result of Typhoon Mangkhut.

President Donald J. Trump granted the CNMI’s second request for a disaster declaration approval this weekend. That triggered the availability of federal assistance for eligible local residents and business owners who sustained property loss or damage from Typhoon Mangkhut.

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said the CNMI would now see more accelerated assistance for families and affected infrastructure.

“Since the typhoon, our local teams have been working collaboratively with our federal partners on relief and recovery efforts on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian. With the disaster declaration that was recently approved by the President, we will see more accelerated assistance for families and affected infrastructure. I want to thank the White House, [the Federal Emergency management Agency], the [American] Red Cross, our federal partners, our Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, our local teams, and our volunteers for their continued work. Our people are resilient, and we will continue to work toward getting every person affected back to normalcy,” he said.

According to a press release from the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office, teams consisting of representatives from the FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance program will be stationed throughout the CNMI so that assistance can be provided for the islands of Rota, Saipan and Tinian.

On Rota, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance personnel will be at the Rota Mayor’s Office starting on Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.

On Saipan, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance personnel will be at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library starting on Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

On Tinian, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance personnel will also be at the Department of Commerce building by the municipal baseball field in San Jose Village from Tuesday to Friday from 8am to 4pm and on Saturday from 8am to 12pm.

The declaration provides both individual and public assistance.

Individual assistance is provided directly to eligible individuals and families who have sustained losses due to disasters.

Individual disaster assistance may include grants to help pay for temporary housing to include rental and lodging expense, emergency home repairs, uninsured and underinsured personal property losses, and medical, dental and funeral expenses caused by the disaster, along with other serious disaster-related expenses. This type of assistance is for residents who incurred uninsured losses because of Typhoon Mangkhut

Public assistance provides reimbursement grants to state/territorial and local governments, as well as certain non-profit entities to assist them with the response to and recovery from disasters. Specifically, the program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the permanent restoration of infrastructure

Through this type of assistance, FEMA will provide reimbursement of at least 75 percent of eligible costs, with the Commonwealth and local governments sharing the remaining 25 percent of costs. Eligible entities include Commonwealth governments, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations such as schools and public utility districts.

In order to ensure that everyone is provided assistance during the outreach, individuals must come prepared to provide FEMA with Social Security Number (one per household), address of the damaged home or apartment, description of the damage, information about insurance coverage (ensure you obtain policy number information), telephone number, mailing address, and bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of funds.