Dear Friends,
On August 22, 2020, the President declared a major disaster (FEMA-4558-DR-CA) for fires burning in the State of California during the month of August. Tulare County was not initially included in this declaration.
However, on October 12th, the State of California requested that Tulare County be added to Presidential Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-4558-DR-CA due to the SQF Complex Fire. I strongly supported this request, sending a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Peter Gaynor urging him to add Tulare County to this August major disaster declaration. On October 15th, I was pleased to see FEMA's quick action adding Tulare County to Presidential Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-4558-DR-CA due to damage sustained to private and public structures from the SQF Complex Fire.
This action means that affected residents of Tulare County are now eligible to apply for Federal financial assistance through FEMA's Individual Assistance (IA) programs and the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) disaster recovery programs to help our communities rebuild. To learn more about the Individual Assistance programs and the SBA disaster recovery programs, including how to apply for financial assistance, please see below:
Applying for Assistance (FEMA): https://www.disasterassistance.gov/
FEMA Individual Assistance: https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual
SBA Disaster Assistance: https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/
As your Representative in Congress, be assured that I will continue to work with the President to ensure that our neighbors impacted by the SQF Complex Fire, as well as Americans all over our country affected by the coronavirus pandemic, receive the federal support they need to help rebuild their lives so things can get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on issues of importance to you.
Sincerely,
Kevin McCarthy