Month 4: Finalize Your Disaster Recovery Pathway
By month 4 post-disaster declaration, ensure you have your full recovery schedule planned. Navigate the process confidently for a smoother recovery journey.
By Murray Wennerlund, published on
Have Final Recovery Pathway in Mind
There is never a one-size-fits-all approach to creating a plan for each household because each household is slightly different.
Your Average Median Income (AMI) will play a major role in the beginning of the HUD CDBG-DR program but later could include other income groups as low-income and moderate-income groups become excluded from the program.
You should have exhausted all your appeals with FEMA and your state's Emergency Management FEMA members under your state's Homeland Security agency. If not, you’ll have a total of 3 appeals per appeal group and 11 months to complete your appeals with evidence before FEMA closes your disaster case.
You should have your budgets detailed and your incomes accounted for to launch your repair or reconstruction project. This means you are moving forward with cash, loans, and credit. You’ll want to follow the HUD CDBG-DR Reimbursement Guidelines that will be detailed within this month to be prepared for your state offering a reimbursement program for all loans and cash used that qualify under the Stafford Act.
From this point, navigating your recovery will be based on how you recover:
- Repairing your home
- Constructing a new home
There will be sub-categories for each category to allow for more details that will be important for some plans but irrelevant to other plans.
