Winter storms in California in recent weeks have caused devastating events that have affected thousands of residents, leaving a long road to recovery for all communities affected by climate change.
And it is that the winter storms caused innumerable material damages due to floods and snow, but also human losses, since up to now there has been a record of 21 deaths.
Due to the need to recover from these impacts, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services has issued a Mass Disaster Declaration listing 49 of the 58 counties in the Golden State for resource assistance from the federal government. , of which 9 have been approved by the Federal Agency for Emergency Management? FEMA, for its acronym in English.
The counties that have been approved so far are Merced, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Monterey, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Calavera.
“We want you to know that the State of California is committed to continuing to support communities and maximizing the support that comes in to recover from the disasters caused by winter storms,” said Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Deputy Director of Crisis Communications and Public Affairs. of Cal OES at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services in which experts met to report on the support that exists for the recovery after the storms that hit California.
For his part, Brian Bui, representative of FEMA, explained that Federal Disaster Assistance includes individual assistance for households ranging from mass care to unemployment assistance.
If you are interested in registering, you can call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 or go to DisasterAssistance.gov, and you can also go to your local Disaster Recovery Center before March 16, 2023.
Luis Santos-Serrano, Public Information Officer for the US Small Business Administration ?SBA? reported that the SBA offers low-interest catastrophe loans to businesses of all sizes, as well as private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters.
He also explained that companies of any size can receive a loan of up to two million dollars to repair the damage caused by a natural disaster.
To apply to the SBA, those interested can go to disasterloan.sba.gov/ela, call 800-659-2955, send an email to disasterloancustomerservice@sba.gov or go to your local Disaster Recovery Center.
On his occasion, Robert Troy, assistant director of the Cal OES Interagency Recovery Coordination, explained that in addition to the support requested through the Mass Disaster Declaration, there is the Public Assistance Program, which supports communities and local governments to reimburse the response and recovery costs from local impacts, which also frees up funds for other types of recovery assistance.
Dayana Contreras, manager of the Listos California program, noted that the program organization has provided support to communities since the start of the storms and reported that they have worked with other Catholic organizations to respond to the needs of those affected by the floods. He also indicated that those interested can access https://www.listoscalifornia.org/disaster-readiness/recovery-help/.
Experts warn of the need to be ready in case of another emergency
In recent years, climate change has caused a large number of natural disasters around the world, affecting thousands of people in its wake, worrying experts and the community in general.
Crofts-Pelayo pointed out the need for communities to be prepared for any natural disaster, since climate changes have increased the risks of suffering the consequences of an emergency, which is why Cal OES has predicted long-term natural disasters due to climate change.
"We have seen fire events like never before, the fire has behaved differently and we have seen it in more than 10 years of experience...the fires are going to be more intense, the temperatures will be extreme and we cannot predict much but we want to make sure that communities have what they need to mitigate the damage that they leave behind,” he declared.
Finally, Troy called for communities to respond in a more resilient way in the event of another natural disaster, but also noted that there are supports that can even help people move from places that are considered high risk.
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