Residents of Western North Carolina affected by Tropical Storm Helene have been granted additional time to apply for FEMA Assistance and Disaster Unemployment Assistance, with deadlines extended to March 8. FEMA advises homeowners and renters in the region to register for aid online at fema.gov/helpishere, call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362, or visit a Disaster Recovery Center. Although the application deadline has been postponed several times, residents are advised not to rely on further extensions beyond the current deadline.

Disaster Unemployment Assistance, meanwhile, has extended its deadline to March 10 for 39 counties in North Carolina and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Applications can be filed at des.nc.gov. Both those unemployed due to the hurricane and business owners may qualify for these benefits.

For residents requiring assistance with FEMA applications or decisions, the nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services can be contacted on 828-253-0406 or applicants can apply on their website pisgahlegal.org. The executive director, Jackie Kiger, empahsizes the importance of applying for FEMA benefits in aiding the the long-term recovery of the affected communities.

For more information on how to handle the aftermath of natural disasters, there are numerous online resources. One such site is eddcaller.com which provides invaluable guides on how to process necessary paperwork for unemployment and other disaster-related situations. This can help claimants navigate through the process of contacting organizations like FEMA and others. This includes advice on how to get through to a live person at the California Employment Development Department (EDD), an organization similar to the DES in NC. Eddcaller.com is an excellent resource for such guidance on a wide array of topics.