U.S. Virgin Islanders affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria now have until January 8, 2018 to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The registration deadline has been extended for individuals and families affected by the hurricanes to apply for grants for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property losses and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance. FEMA encourages everyone affected by the hurricanes to register for assistance.
Survivors with connectivity may register at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362. Individuals who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY should call 800-462-7585 directly. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS) may call 800-621-3362. These toll-free telephone numbers operate from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (local time) seven days a week. Operators are standing by to assist survivors in multiple languages.
Additionally, Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) offer survivors a place to register for disaster assistance in person, especially residents who still have connectivity challenges. Representatives from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to answer questions and provide information on the types of federal help available to homeowners, renters and business owners throughout the islands who have experienced damages from the hurricanes.
Nine DRCs are open across the territory from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are located at:
- St. John
- Cruz Bay at the U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature, St. John Annex, 1D Cruz Bay
- Coral Bay at the Town & Country Building, 8-1 Estate Emmaus
- St. Croix
- Christiansted at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 38-44 Castle Coakley
- Frederiksted at the Rotary Club West, 40 KA-KD Estate LaGrange
- Christiansted at the Old Post Office Building at Church and Company streets
- Christiansted at Fire Captain Rencelliar I. Gibbs Fire Station, Parcel #1, Estate Cotton Valley, East End (Closes Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 5 p.m.)
- St. Thomas
- Charlotte Amalie at the former Scotiabank, 81 CC & DD Kronsprindsens Gade
- Charlotte Amalie at Tutu Park Mall, 4605 Tutu Park Mall, Suite 233
- Estate Bordeaux at the Bordeaux Farmers Market, 109 East Bordeaux
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Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711/VRS – Video Relay Service) (TTY: 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve ourcapability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Following major disasters, the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the primary source of Federal funds for long-term recovery assistance. This assistance is in the form of low-interest loans and is available to non-farm businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, as well as homeowners and renters with property damaged by the disaster.
For official information on the recovery effort following the hurricanes, please visit www.informusvi.com or www.usviupdate.com. Follow us on social media at twitter.com/femaregion2 and www.facebook.com/
To donate or volunteer, contact the voluntary or charitable organization of your choice through the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) at www.nvoad.org. For those who wish to help, cash donations offer voluntary agencies the most flexibility in obtaining the most-needed resources and pumps money into the local economy to help businesses recover. The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands also has the “Fund for the Virgin Islands” at www.USVIrecovery.org.
