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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:04 p.m., Friday, January 23, 2009

Federal aid to Oahu flood victims tops $1 million

Advertiser Staff

The amount of federal assistance received by residents of O'ahu and business owners who were affected by the Dec. 10-16 rainstorms and flooding now stands at $1.088 million, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials announced yesterday. The assistance is in the form of grants from FEMA and disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As of Thursday, 480 homeowners, renters and business owners had applied for disaster assistance.

Some $1,088,775 in grants and loans have been approved for City and County of Honolulu applicants, which includes:

  • $954,929 in housing assistance to cover temporary rental assistance, home repairs and replacement.

  • $121,246 in other needs assistance to cover essential personal property losses, medical, dental, funeral, transportation or other serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance.

  • $12,600 in U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans has been approved.

    Affected residents are encouraged to register for federal disaster assistance either by calling FEMA's tele-registration number 800-621-3362 (for hearing or speech impaired TTY 800-462-7585) or visiting www.disasterassistance.gov.

    SBA Disaster loan information and application forms are available from SBA's Customer Service Center by calling toll-free 800-659 2955, e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA's Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Hearing-impaired individuals may call 800-877 8339.

    After registering with FEMA, applicants may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application via SBA's secure Web site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.