FEMA announced yesterday that federal disaster assistance is available to the state of California to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires and straight-line winds from Jan. 7, 2025, and continuing.

President Biden’s action to approve a major disaster declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Los Angeles County. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

FEMA said in a media statement that federal funding is also available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Curtis Brown has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further assessments.

Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621- 3362 or by using the FEMA App.

Prior to FEMA’s announcement, risk modeler CoreLogic released information about the number and value of homes at risk in Los Angeles and Riverside metropolitan areas, stressing, however, that the estimates were not specific to the current fire events.

CoreLogic estimates that there are over 456,000 homes with nearly $300 billion in reconstruction cost value at moderate or greater risk within these two areas.

This data represents the total number of homes and reconstruction cost value within the metropolitan areas at risk in general and is not specific to the current fire events, CoreLogic said. Data specific to the current fire events may be provided once there are well-defined fire perimeters, CoreLogic added.

Sources: FEMA; CoreLogic

Related article: “California Wildfires Will Likely Lead to Large Economic and Insured Losses “