FEMA visits homeowners who need to rebuild after flooding
SPRINGBORO, Ind. (WLFI) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering assistance to Indiana homeowners affected by winter flooding.
This comes after President Donald Trump’s disaster declaration last week.
A contractor showed how federal funding is helping one homeowner rebuild and prepare for future flooding.
“It was pretty bad. Everything interior was wiped out,” said Real Estate Services General Contractor Anthony Moulden. “It had 3 feet of standing water.”
Moulden has spent the last several weeks building piers under a home on Tecumseh Bend Road in rural Brookston. It was one of several in Carroll County affected by severe storms and flooding that happened between Feb. 14 to March 4.
“Homeowners and renters have to be within the specific counties that have been declared a disaster for individual assistance,” said FEMA spokesperson Jann Tracey. “So right now, we have only nine counties.”
Eligible counties are Carroll, Clark, Elkhart, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Lake, Marshall and St. Joseph.
Tracey said the maximum pay out is $33,300, and homeowners who already paid to fix damage can also benefit from the program.
“They should have receipts available,” Tracey said. “They should have photos. An inspector will come out and see all that to verify just how much they had and then it goes into the system of payouts.”
FEMA Disaster Survivor Teams spent Friday reaching out to people needing to rebuild. Tracey said registering is easy.
“Within a matter of days they will be contacted by an inspector,” she said. “An inspector has to come out and look at the house.”
Moulden said the process of lifting a home can be daunting to a homeowner but it is something that only takes his crew a few weeks.
However, he said, it could be a drawn-out process if people don’t register for assistance quickly.
“A lot of it has to do with getting the funding for the lift,” Moulden said. “That’s the long drawn out process. If the money is there immediately, we’re on it.”
Those who qualify for damage assistance can register by calling 1-800-621-3362. They can also register online.