The parking lot between Wells Fargo, St. Paul United Methodist Church and Saucon Manor in Hellertown was flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. This photo was taken from an upper-story apartment in Saucon Manor. (FILE PHOTO)
Individual households in Northampton County may now apply for federal disaster relief if their homes sustained damage due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida last month.
In a news release Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced the addition of Northampton and Bedford counties to the list of counties approved by President Joe Biden for inclusion in the major disaster declaration that makes them eligible for aid via the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Individual Assistance program.
Other counties which were previously declared eligible for the program due to the effects of Ida include Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, York and Philadelphia counties.
Impacted residents of Bedford, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and York counties should register for assistance with FEMA online at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app or by calling the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Helpline services are available seven days a week from 7 am. to 1 a.m. FEMA also has Disaster Survivor Assistance teams deployed to provide hands-on assistance with registration and to answer questions.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) will also be working with its partners at FEMA, as well as with county governments, to organize and open a number of Disaster Recovery centers in impacted communities. One such center recently opened in Warminster, Bucks County. A list of all the centers may be found here. FEMA will have staff available at them to help residents with the appropriate documents and expedite the process of obtaining recovery aid. More information is available at PEMA.pa.gov/Ida.
“The impact of this disaster will be felt for years to come,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “Getting Individual Assistance to survivors will speed up the recovery process to restore some sense of normalcy in these communities.”
For more information about FEMA’s support to Pennsylvania’s recovery is available at FEMA.gov/disaster/4618.
