After homes burned, people are trying to figure out how to rebuilld. Those that had homes standing were also having trouble receiving money for remediation.
Thank you for all the great information you shared with the community. I have some information that would also be useful for the community.
We applied for FEMA help back in January or February 2025 and they responded to us with request for additional information. I provided the information and they requested information several times. They sent about $7000 and denied the request for any additional funds.
Our house did not burn down, but we incurred costs that exceeded $43,000 by several multiples in both the housing assistance category and in the other necessary assistance category. After the denial, I went through the appeal process and sent additional Information. I spent at least 20 hours of time in this process.
They had sent out an inspector in November 2025, who did very little as we had already fully remediated and moved into the house. Then, in February they sent a second inspector. In both cases, we spent time talking with the inspectors at our home and showing them pictures of the damage. We received approximately $66,000 of insurance money for the housing assistance category and no money for the other necessary assistance category. We expect at some point we will receive reimbursement for personal property losses from our insurance company.
FEMA advised us that since we received more than $43,000 insurance money and expect to receive more than $43,000 in the second category that we are not eligible to receive any FEMA money even though our losses were several hundred thousand dollars.
I think I should have advised early in the process that if we were to receive more than $43,000 in insurance money that we would not be eligible to receive any FEMA money.
Instead, they continued to ask us for additional information and continued to waste our time. I think it would be useful to other people to know that they shouldn’t waste their time with FEMA if they’re receiving insurance money.
— A Resident —
