HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvanians were approved for $420 million in disaster aid, but that figure will increase as pending applications continue to be processed, according to officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).

As of December 16, the breakdown of disaster aid reported for Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee included:

$134.5 Million Individual Assistance grants approved;
$122.4 million in housing assistance including temporary housing, home repairs, and personal property losses,
$12.1 million in dental, medical, and funeral costs and other serious disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance.
$82.5 million in low-interest disaster loans approved by the SBA.
$196.5 million in insurance claims settled by the NFIP. (as of 12/14/11)
$478,360 in Disaster Unemployment Assistance awarded.
$6.1 million in Public Assistance (Infrastructure) funding
94,154 people registered with FEMA for disaster assistance.
27,949 people visited Disaster Recovery Centers

“These were historic storms for the state of Pennsylvania,” said Commonwealth Coordinating Officer, John Forr. “People throughout the state have been heavily impacted and these funds are making a great deal of difference to many lives as we continue to recover from these storms.”

Anyone who has questions about the application they filed may call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Those using 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS) may call 1-800-621-3362. Multilingual operators will continue to answer calls seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.