DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — There is less than a month left to apply for federal assistance if you've been affected by the March 14 tornadoes that took three lives and devastated communities across Ohio.
What You Need To Know
- FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews go door-to-door to help tornado survivors apply for federal assistance
- There is assistance to help people with property damages from the storm and other needs
- The deadline to apply for federal assistance is July 1
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) teams have been helping the affected communities in the meantime. DSA teams go door-to-door to help people apply for federal assistance.
There is assistance to help people with property damages from the storm and other needs like moving, transportation, childcare and even medical and dental expenses.
Eddie Bauer is one of the DSA specialists helping in Delaware County.
He is from Florida, so he wasn’t directly affected by the March 14 tornadoes, but he felt compelled to help.
“I get emotional talking about it,” said Bauer. “But if we don’t come here and help these people, they may never get help.”
He explained it’s important to apply even if you don’t think you would qualify for federal assistance.
“A lot of people think because they have insurance, they can’t get help with FEMA, and that’s not true,” Bauer said. “We call that uninsured insurance.”
Bauer’s been doing this for six years now, and despite the travel, he says he won’t be quitting anytime soon.
“There’s no reason I can’t do this until... I don’t know when I would want to stop doing it,” he said. “It’s a great job, helping people, getting paid to help people. I see no downside.”
FEMA DSA teams have visited almost 9,000 affected homes throughout Ohio so far.
Anyone affected by the March 14th tornadoes can apply for FEMA assistance here. The deadline is July 1.