FEMA answers your questions about L.A. wildfire recovery, relief​on January 31, 2025 at 6:21 am

More than 37,000 acres were burned when the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire swept through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, respectively, destroying more than 2,000 structures and damaging more than 16,000 structures.

Now, communities and people in the impacted areas are looking to rebuild and recover from the destruction. A big part of the puzzle aimed at recovery is FEMA disaster assistance.

ABC7 Eyewitness News talked to Brandi Richard Thompson, public affairs officer for FEMA Region IX, about what people need to know about getting aid. Viewers sent in questions that ABC7 asked Thompson directly.

Watch the informative Ask 7 special in the video above.

Here’s a look at some of the questions asked during the special:

How can I get funding for different types of assistance from FEMA?

Thompson: When you apply for FEMA assistance, you are applying, or what we call registering, for all of the assistance that we have. And on our website, you can go to either the disaster page for this disaster or look around for information for individual assistance that will give you an overview of all of the programs that we offer.

And when you apply, we’re looking at your application to determine whether or not you are eligible for those items that could be home repair, home replacement. That could be your personal property, things that you had in your home at the time of the disaster, that could be your car. That could be medications that you lost during the disaster, or health expenses that are directly related to something that happened to you from the disaster.

There are a wide variety of things that you could be eligible for.

A lot of times when people apply, they think that they are asking for one specific thing and that they need to come back to us over and over again to ask for other things. It’s not necessarily the case. You apply, you provide the information that we ask from you, and then we continue to look at what you are eligible for. We’ll reach out to you and tell you, “hey, you are now eligible for a hotel stay. Hey, you are now eligible for rental assistance. Here is, here is the money to be able to rent a place.”

And so, when we send you a letter that says maybe you’re ineligible, it’s the beginning of a conversation. It’s the opportunity for you to reach back out to us, see what we need, look at the letter very closely to determine what we need, and then get that information to us so that we can make decisions on other assistance that may be available to you. So that’s the process that will happen over and over again, as we determine that you’re eligible for certain types of assistance.

Who is eligible for FEMA assistance?

Thompson: Some of our assistance has changed recently in the year, what we covered and what we did not cover before. So, some people may have heard through hearsay conversations with others who’ve been impacted by a disaster, that, “hey, you wouldn’t be able to receive assistance.” When, in fact, now you could.

So, I encourage everyone, whether they have insurance or not, to submit a registration to determine what you’re eligible for. Let us do that work for you instead of you trying to figure it out.

And there will be some people their insurance covers so much of their damage that they may not be eligible for FEMA assistance, but there are also people who are underinsured, and so we can assist them in those situations.

Does FEMA money need to be paid back?

Thompson: FEMA is a grant program. So FEMA is not going to come to you and ask you to pay back a loan, like the Small Business Administration would offer you a loan for assistance. So, they’re separate in that way.

However, if, for some reason, you take the Army Corps of Engineers, debris removal services, and you receive assistance for that from your insurance company. Then, you would need to submit that payment, potentially back to the county, which would ultimately come to FEMA. If, for some reason, you receive assistance for something, let’s say, through your insurance company, for a vehicle that was damaged during the disaster, and FEMA also assisted you with that vehicle. Then, you may have to return the money that you received for that specific thing back to FEMA.

But this is not a loan program, and this is not a program where we’re actively to come back and take resources from you. We are actually trying to get all of the information from you to ensure that we don’t duplicate any assistance that you receive from other sources. So that that’s the main difference between what we provide and what SBA provides in the form of an actual loan.

See all the FEMA questions and answers in the video above.