What to do next,
in the right order.

After a fire, flood, hurricane, or earthquake, the paperwork arrives when you have the least capacity for it. This lays it out in sequence so nothing important expires.

Before anything elseEveryone is safe, or getting safe. That's the only thing that matters today. This list will still be here tomorrow — and most deadlines below are weeks away, not hours.

About the deadlines here: FEMA and SBA windows are tied to the date your area was federally declared a disaster — not the date the disaster happened — and they get extended fairly often. The dates below are the common defaults so you know roughly where you stand. Confirm your actual deadline at DisasterAssistance.gov or 1-800-621-3362. This is general information, not legal or insurance advice.

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