Milwaukee County residents have a little more than one week to apply for federal assistance to cover home damage or other disaster-related emergency needs caused by the severe storms and flooding from April 13 to April 23.
There are 26,218 valid registrations in Milwaukee County as of Aug. 19, according to FEMA, though it anticipates this number will increase before the individual assistance deadline of Monday, Aug. 31.
FEMA has approved more than $62 million in individual and household assistance in Wisconsin.
To apply, visit DisasterAssistance.gov or the Spanish language DisasterAssistance.gov/es, call 800-621-3362, use the FEMA App or visit the Disaster Recovery Center in the lower level of the Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road.
The center is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is scheduled to have its last day of operation on Friday, Aug. 28.
Staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and Wisconsin Emergency Management can assist residents with questions or the appeals process. Appointments are not required.
Find other centers outside of the county using FEMA’s DRC locator.
Check eligibility
FEMA cannot duplicate benefits for losses already covered by insurance, so residents should file a claim with their homeowners, renters, vehicle or flood insurance if they have it before applying for FEMA assistance.
To be eligible for assistance, an applicant needs to be a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, or qualified alien and your damaged home must be your primary residence.
Applicants may be able to receive assistance to cover temporary lodging, storage, vehicle repair or replacement, repairing water heaters, air conditioning and furnaces, as well as medical, dental, childcare or other disaster-related needs.
Once an applicant receives a decision from FEMA, they have the option to submit an appeal within 60 days.
Submitting documentation
While applying, you must provide the following information:
- Contact information
- Your address at the time of disaster and where you’re currently residing
- Social Security number
- A general list of damage and losses
- Annual household income
- Insurance policy number or name of agent/company
- Bank account information for direct deposit
Small Business Administration loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers loans with low interest rates and terms up to 30 years for the long-term recovery of businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and renters from flood and storm damage.
Businesses and nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical damage loans to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, equipment or other assets. They can also apply for economic injury disaster loans to cover financial losses directly related to this disaster.
Homeowners and renters can apply for physical damage loans to replace or repair damage to homes and personal property.
The filing deadline for physical property damage applications is Aug. 31. Economic injury applications are due on March 30, 2027.
Applicants can learn about the loans at the Disaster Recovery Center. The Business Recovery Center inside the Small Business Administration’s District Office at 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 580W, closed on Friday.
Staff recommend residents bring documentation needed for loan applications with them.
Other ways to apply include visiting sba.gov/disaster, calling the Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Disaster unemployment assistance
Federal disaster unemployment assistance, or DUA, provides temporary income support to workers who are unemployed because of a major disaster and who do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits.
Eligible workers in Milwaukee County can apply for disaster unemployment assistance before the deadline of Aug. 31, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
To apply, residents need to be authorized to work in the U.S., have worked or were scheduled to begin work in Milwaukee County or another eligible county and became unemployed or lost their primary income as a result of the April storms.
Physical damage to a place of employment, obstacles traveling to work, injuries, death of a head of household, closed government facilities or loss of revenue caused as a result of the disaster may also qualify workers for disaster unemployment assistance.
All applicants must first apply for regular unemployment benefits before being considered for disaster unemployment benefits.
Applicants will need to provide their Social Security number and may be asked to provide their earnings from their most recent federal tax returns when filing a claim.
Apply online at my.unemployment.wisconsin.gov or call the hotline at 608-318-7100 during business hours.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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