A Pathway to Recovery – Building Toward a Safer and More Resilient Future
(Background): Bomb cyclone causes severe storms in California. Severe flood damage, piers down and hundreds of homes without power in Capitola, Calif., Jan. 5. (Rosangela Perry/Shutterstock)
Listos California and Cal OES held a special briefing, co-hosted by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media, Jan. 31, to help Californians impacted by the recent flood disaster better understand the range of recovery resources available and how to access them online, by phone or in-person.
Federal state and local experts – Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Assistant Director, Crisis Communication & Public Affairs, Cal OES; Bill Simonson, Chief, Interagency Recovery Coordination, Cal OES; Robert Troy, Assistant Director, Interagency Recovery Coordination, Cal OES; Brian Bui, Representative from FEMA; Luis Santos-Serrano, Public Information Officer, U.S. Small Business Administration; and Dayana Contreras, Listos California Program Manager, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fresno – provided information to help pick up the pieces and build toward a safer and more resilient future. The message – We are California for All. Together we will move forward with a renewed spirit and a unified galvanized front.
Briefing moderator, Regina Brown Wilson, executive director of California Black Media introduced the speakers, starting with assistant director of communications and public affairs at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, who provided a brief overview of recovery resources available to Californians.
Cal OES
“California held a tightly coordinated response to these (recent) winter storms very quickly,” said Diana.
“Governor Newsom included 41 counties in his emergency declaration. This was to assist with rapid resources from the federal government to come into local communities, to help with any response needed during the storms, then subsequently the state submitted a presidential major disaster declaration for 49 counties.
“So far FEMA has approved nine specifically for this individualized financial support. There are a little bit of nuances. We want people to know that the state of California is committed to continuing our support to communities and maximizing the aid that comes in, to help them recover from winter storms.
“We are partnering with trusted messengers and community-based organizations through this recovery effort to maximize and help survivors get the resources that they need and also co-working with FEMA on a lot of this.
“We need to be prepared and vigilant as we see more complex and natural disasters. It’s not if but when, the next disaster will strike.
“We hadn’t really thought that we would have a major flooding incident in California, we’re known for our wildfires and earthquakes, but ultimately we want Californians to be prepared for a whole host of natural disasters that could occur in their area, and so as the Governor has said before, ‘the hots are getting hotter, wets are wetter, and the dries are even drier,’ and so we will begin and continue to see kind of these ever complex natural disasters and emergencies hitting Californians in unique ways that maybe we haven’t seen before,” said Diana.
“People can go to listoscalifornia.org for preparedness tips. Those are five simple steps that can be used in any emergency or disaster and it’s good to be prepared. Let this be a reminder for you to have those conversations with your family and really make the difference for the next time an emergency strikes, so that families are ready,” said Daina.
The next speaker was Robert Troy from Cal OES.
“Our job is to try and truly measure the impacts from disasters because all disasters are different, and to try and bring together whatever support we can that will help local communities respond to those disasters,” said Robert.
“We also work with our state and federal partners to provide coordinated, efficient, and timely support throughout the recovery process. The recovery process starts on day one and can take years for large-scale disasters.
“Storm events like this can take months and years to fully repair local infrastructure and local recovery capabilities,” said Robert.
“We have established relationships with every county within the state so that when the disaster strikes, we’re not shaking hands and introducing ourselves after the fact.
“Help is available both online and in person. We’ve worked with our local partners as well as our state and federal partners to stand up local assistance centers or disaster recovery centers across the state.
“As of Jan. 31, we have seven that are open. Another seven that are going to be coming online and open soon and those are noted on the Cal OES recovery website,” said Robert.
Answering questions on what have we learned about emergency prepared preparation from these latest storms; where are the holes and have we filled them, Robert said, “It won’t take much more rain to cause additional impacts because the ground is so saturated right now from the recent weather events.
“We’re always vigilant for an additional seismic event that could happen at any time.
“One of the things that we encourage and provide access to are mitigation funds and programs to help build more resilient communities.
“Every time we go out and repair a damaged road or a damaged facility post-disaster, we’d highly encourage local communities to also invest in mitigation as well, to build back in a more resilient manner so that we can better withstand future disasters,” said Robert.
“We also help to provide funding for that as well,” said Robert.
FEMA
Brian Bui from FEMA spoke next about the assistance available to individual survivors that were directly impacted from the storms.
“There were 49 counties under the emergency declaration but under the current major disaster declaration there are currently nine designated counties designated for individual assistants including, Calaveras, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.
“There is a potential for additional counties to be designated for individual assistants,” said Brian.
“Individuals are able to register for FEMA and may be eligible for assistance under the IHP, the Individuals in Household Programs.
“The two major sub-components of the IHP includes housing assistance and other needs assistance.
“Under housing assistance, eligible survivors may be eligible for rental assistance; temporary lodging; repair assistance; or replacement assistance.
“Under other needs assistance, personal property damage can be replaced; transportation repairs; can be assisted with funeral costs; medical and dental costs; childcare and other miscellaneous costs; the current maximum for each category of assistance this fiscal year is up to $41,000 per household, and this is expense or losses not covered by insurance,” said Brian.
“For the process of registering for FEMA, an applicant can call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). They can also go in person to a state local assistance center or a joint disaster recovery center. There’s knowledgeable staff, not only from FEMA, IA, but also mitigation that can assist with a survivor’s recovery efforts.
“A survivor can also register for FEMA via the Internet at disasterassistance.gov or download the FEMA app on to their mobile device. The registration deadline is March 16th of this year, for all designated counties, and assistance is provided for up to 18 months after the date of decoration or July 15, 2024.
“In order to be eligible for FEMA aid, a survivor must meet the general conditions of eligibility which includes uh being a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen national, or a qualified alien. They must prove their identity and that they were occupying the primary residence at the time of the disaster, and this is for uninsured or underinsured disaster cause expenses and serious needs as it relates to housing assistance and other needs assistance,” said Brian.
SBA
“The Small Business Administration, or SBA, works and offers disaster assistance,” said Luis Santos-Serrano from SBA.
“SBA offers federal low interest disaster loan to businesses of all sizes, most private non-profit organizations, homeowners, and renters.
“Business of any size may borrow up to $2 Million for the specific purpose to repair or replace the disaster property damage through a Physical Disaster Loan. The interest rate can be as low as 3.305%.
“Most private non-profit organizations may also borrow to help meet disaster cost, working capital needs.
“If you need extra funds because your business was impacted economically or your business has less cash available and you need Working Capital Loans, you may apply up to $2 Million in a combination. For example, if your business was impacted physically and you need funds to repair or replace the disaster property damage, including machinery, equipment, inventory, among others, and at the same time you need working capital loan in a combination, the maximum about is up to $2 Million.
“If you’re a homeowner or a renter, FEMA may refer you to the SBA. Disaster Loans are the primary source of money to pay for repair or replacement needs or costs not fully covered by insurance or other compensation.
“We encourage everyone, if they have insurance, please have your insurance request, so you can have a better understanding, a better overview.
“If you may need additional funds to recover you may apply for a federal low interest disaster loan. Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence.
“If you’re a homeowner but you have multiple residences, for your primary residence, it will be up to $200,000. Your additional homes may be considered as businesses.
“Renters may borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property including vehicles, or any other personal property that was damaged.
“Our multi-agency effort is to help you get back to the day before you were impacted by the disaster,” said Luis.
“We encourage everyone to first register with FEMA at www.disasterassistant.gov.
“We do have credit requirements. Applicants must have credit history. Applicants must show the ability to repay all loans. That will determine if the SBA can offer you that loan,” said Luis.
If SBA offers you the loan, you can decide if you want to take that loan. In case you don’t want to take it, the offer letter is something you should hold on to in case you want to revisit the situation later. You can go back to SBA and request a reconciliation at later date, based on your original offer. The SBA will revisit the application and try to requalify you. It is important to submit your application for economic injury.
“The Working Capital Loan for small businesses or most private non-profit organizations will be accepted through October 16, 2023, so you will have nine months since the day of this disaster declaration.
“For Home Loans, interest rates can be as low as low as 2.313%, and for businesses, the interest rate can be as low as 3.305% and the maximum years to repay this loan is 30 years,” said Luis.
Listos California
Dayana Contreras, Listos California Program Manager, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fresno, provided a community-based organizational perspective for all those who are on the ground and frontlines, working directly with community.
“From the first day of the flood, we responded by providing food to the migrant camps in Merced La NADA, which as we know was a community that was deeply affected. We had a table at the fairgrounds which was the disaster relief center, and we continue to share information. If anyone needed any of our services, we worked around the club to provide.
“Because of the disaster, our food pantry items became something that would be easy for our families to prepare and eat. Granola bars, crackers for children, a ton of water, and because we have a big truck, we were able to do our deliveries and volunteered to transport a lot of donated items from other organizations and churches.
“We partnered with the two local Catholic churches in the community, St Vincent de Paul and Sacred Heart, and they have been amazing at responding to some of the needs regarding pillows and blankets. We partnered with them to distribute those across the city of Merced.
“We uh also have services for CalFresh and medical enrollment. We are helping families do the application process, we’ve heard that there might be some type of disaster relief with CalFresh, and we are assisting families to start that process.
“These families are overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and so our assistance in being their case managers per se through the DHCS system has been relieving to a lot of them.
“We also have a diaper program and have been helping anyone that needs assistance there.
“We recently received news that we have been identified to start the disaster case management program response to the flooding in Merced. This is a program funded by FEMA, the California Department of Social Services, and Cal OES,” said Dayana.
“Helping overwhelmed families with advocacy and appeals, just the process or speaking with FEMA, we find that they’re not asking all their questions at the booth. Maybe there is a language barrier, and so we really are just that in-between, to assist them through the process.
“A lot of families have questions around the immigration status. Migrant families, farm workers, are used to word-of-mouth, and asking a family member, or a neighbor, about information.
“Just helping them identify who are the credible resources that they need to go to for getting information, that alone can be something that a case manager assists a family with and we’re excited that we can kick this program off almost immediately.
“We right now are in the process of signing people up, that’s just collecting information, it’s doing a quick screening as to what are the needs that you may have what do you and your family need, and putting you through our system, and we’re in the process of hiring our case managers,” said Dayana.
