The Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended the deadline for those impacted by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina to apply for federal assistance to Feb. 6.
Homeowners and renters in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Forsyth, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Nash, Polk, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians with uninsured losses from Helene may be eligible to apply for FEMA assistance, according to a news release from FEMA.
There are several ways to apply:
- Visit a Disaster Recovery Center in your community. Visit
- to find the closest location.
- Call the FEMA hotline at 1-800-621-3362 between the hours of 7 a.m. and midnight.
- Go online to
- .
The deadline for Disaster Unemployment Assistance has also been extended. Those eligible include:
People who lived, worked, or were scheduled to work in one of the counties listed above, lost employment or had a job interrupted as a result of Helene and have exhausted state unemployment benefits or are still out of work.
The fastest way to file a claim is online at the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Employment Security at .
