COLUMBIA, S.C. – The deadline for South Carolinians to register for disaster assistance – for uninsured or underinsured damage or losses due to Hurricane Florence – has been extended to 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. FEMA granted the extension at the request of Gov. Henry McMaster, citing a continued flow of new applications for federal assistance.

South Carolina homeowners, renters and business owners in Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Marlboro counties may apply for disaster assistance for losses occurring between Sept. 8, and Oct. 8, 2018 from Hurricane Florence.

Long-term, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist businesses of any size, homeowners and renters, also may be available to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov or by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Survivors can apply the following ways:

• Call 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585 (TTY) anytime from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time seven days a week until further notice. Multilingual operators are available.
• Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov  or  DisasterAssistance.gov/es (for Spanish)
• Visit any open State/FEMA Disaster Recovery Center. Go to www.fema.gov/DRC to view locations.

For more information on Hurricane Florence and South Carolina recovery, visit the S.C. Emergency Management Division website at scemd.org, on social media (@SCEMD on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), or FEMA’s Hurricane Florence disaster webpage at www.fema.gov/disaster/4394, or Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA, and the FEMA Region 4 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion4.