FEMA comes to San Diego to help flood victims

Rafer Weigel
·2 min read

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials arrived in town Tuesday and are already touring the damage left behind by the storms. This, as another round of rain hits San Diego County.

But, folks who lost everything in the recent flooding have not lost hope as they are now optimistic the federal government will help them get their heads above water again.

“It’s really upsetting because I put so much of my own money into this house and I feel like it was just washed away,” Mountain View resident Lara Lockwood said.

Lockwood was one of the first San Diegans to apply for FEMA funds when they became available Monday after her home was gutted by last month’s flooding.

“We got about one foot inside the house,” said Lockwood, who didn’t have flood insurance and is looking at about $80,000 to $100,000 in damages.

“Like at this moment, I don’t even know (how much it’s going to cost),” Lockwood said as she hopes the federal government will help out.

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“Now that we actually are able to apply for the FEMA, that’s one thing. It was just a matter of the waiting,” she said. “So, now that that’s actually been approved, you can actually go onto the website and apply for the FEMA. I’m extremely happy about it.”

Her neighbor Jackie Marshall suffered about $60,000 in damages and has questions about FEMA.

“I don’t really know what FEMA is all about,” Marshalls said. “How are they gonna help us? What do we do? Do we call FEMA?”

You can call 1-800-621-FEMA and FOX 5/KUSI helped her do just that. You can also go to disasterassistance.gov and apply.  Get all your personal info together and documentation, fill out the application and you’ll get a FEMA ID.  After you apply, check your email and your status. You can also go to the FEMA app.

“Our big push is for people to reach out through one of those methods and find out what you may be eligible for,” said Brady Penn, External Affairs Officer for FEMA.

Penn says the process should take about 20 minutes online, and if you’re approved, you could get money in a week. If you’re not approved, try again.

“When people get a response, if it isn’t an automatic approval, it’s not necessarily a denial so people should continue to work with FEMA,” Penn said.

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