Palm Beach County residents now eligible for FEMA individual assistance

Palm Beach County residents are now eligible for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management agency due to Hurricane Ian, Rep. Lois Frankel announced Saturday morning.

The new designation comes after a tornado caused by Hurricane Ian tore through the senior living community of Kings Point near Delray Beach, rendering nearly 60 homes unsafe. Some of those residents had no insurance and nowhere to go when their homes were destroyed.

Palm Beach County joins a list of 19 other counties from southwest Florida to the east central region. In the days after Ian made landfall, as the list of FEMA designated counties grew, Kings Point residents called on the federal government to include them.

[ RELATED: ‘What the hell was that?’ Tornadoes rip through South Florida, rattling homes and nerves ]

The individual assistance will allow them to apply for money to help pay housing expenses and home repairs not covered by insurance, as well as damages to their vehicles and belongings.

Richard Martin, a resident of Kings Point who lost his home to the tornado and had the wrong insurance, had already applied for FEMA aid before he was even eligible. He hadn’t yet heard the news on Saturday morning.

“What you just told me is just going through me, it’s such a relief,” he said.

[ RELATED: 7 tornadoes tore through Broward, Palm Beach counties ahead of Hurricane Ian. Kings Point residents still need help ]

Last week, he said, he called Rep. Frankel’s office, and they told him she was “furiously” working on this.

Martin had been living temporarily with his friends’ parents, but had since moved into a vacant apartment that an acquaintance had offered to him. He had lost most of his belongings in the storm, he said, and hopes the money will help pay for a new television.

Those who wish to apply for assistance can do so in three ways:

Visit: http://DisasterAssistance.gov

Call: 800-621-3362

Download the FEMA App: https://www.fema.gov/about/news-multimedia/mobile-products

Staff writer Shira Moolten can be reached at smoolten@sunsentinel.com