Biden grants Florida disaster declaration, giving access to federal funds after Hurricane Nicole

Approval provides 10 counties, including Brevard, Flagler and Volusia, with public assistance

President Joe Biden approved Florida’s disaster declaration on Tuesday, allowing the state to receive federal funding after Hurricane Nicole.

Florida sent the declaration to the president at the end of November after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it.

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The president’s approval provides 10 counties, including Brevard, Flagler and Volusia, with public assistance. Of those 10, six would be eligible for individual assistance.

Counties eligible for individual assistance:

  • Brevard
  • Flagler
  • Lake
  • Putnam
  • St. Johns
  • Volusia

The U.S. Small Business Administration is also providing low-interest disaster loans to businesses impacted by the storm.

Hurricane Nicole brought extensive damage to Florida’s coast, collapsing multiple buildings.

“We’ve been out all the way from Palm Beach County, all the way north to see the damage that was done there,” Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said of the final assessment sent to DeSantis for the disaster declaration. “We put all that data into the document we sent to the governor.”

Individuals in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties can apply with FEMA by visiting www.DisasterAssistance.gov or calling 800-621-3362.

Businesses in the same counties can apply for both physical and economic injury disaster loans, while businesses in Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Indian River, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Sumter counties can exclusively apply for economic injury disaster loans.

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About the Author:

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

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