Dear Friend,
As the Central Coast recovers from the largest fire in California’s history and its devastating after effects, I continue to be inspired by our community’s resilience. The Thomas fire and Montecito mudslides tragically killed at least twenty Montecito residents and one CAL Fire engineer, destroyed hundreds of homes, and forced thousands of people to evacuate.
I am grateful that our request to make federal Individual Assistance funding and programs available to Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslide victims in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties was granted this week. FEMA resources available include housing assistance, disaster unemployment assistance, tax relief, and crisis counseling. Residents can apply for disaster assistance by calling 800-621-3362 or visiting disasterassistance.gov.
Please know I am committed to working with our local, state and federal officials to ensure that the federal government provides all necessary resources to support our community in the long recovery ahead. I am so thankful to our brave first-responders and Army Corps of Engineers working tirelessly through difficult conditions to help us recover. I stand ready to help expedite any support or resources that our communities need to rebuild and repair homes, businesses, and infrastructure. Our district pulls together in tough times. We’ve overcome challenges together, and we will do so again.
Should you need anything, my staff and I are here to help.
Sincerely,
Congressman Salud Carbajal |
| Thomas Fire and CA storm Recovery guide |
This week, my office released a Thomas Fire and California storm recovery guide to help those affected by the Thomas Fire, the largest fire in California’s history, and subsequent Montecito mudslides, find and apply for available federal resources through FEMA.
Rep. Carbajal tours Montecito mudslide area to assess federal response
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The guide includes information about the current resources available to victims, including FEMA assistance, disaster unemployment assistance, replacing lost documents, housing assistance to individuals and households, Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance, and legal assistance. FEMA plans to open a local assistance center on the Central Coast to work directly with impacted individuals.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL FIRE RECOVERY GUIDE
FEMA will also open a Local Assistance Center to directly provide resources for recovery, disaster assistance relief, and counseling, among many other services, on Thursday, January 18th. The center will be staffed with representatives from a number of local agencies.
FEMA CENTER
1 N Calle Cesar Chavez
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
M-F 11:00AM - 6:30PM
Saturday 10:00AM - 2:00PM |
As residents and business owners begin to recover, this information will hopefully help individuals, families, and businesses navigate the federal resources available to our community as we recover from one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory.
The guide will be updated when and if more resources become available. Should anyone have any issues when contacting a federal agency, they should not hesitate to contact my office.
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| Improving our emergency alert system |
Effective communication through the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system is essential to making sure Central Coast residents are well-informed during natural disasters like the Thomas Fire and Montecito mud slides. As our community continues to feel the impacts of the Thomas Fire and rebuild in the wake of the devastating Montecito mudslides, it is critical that our warning system is clear and capable of transmitting lifesaving information to Central Coast residents. I wrote to the FCC and FEMA this week asking that they address the shortcomings of the current system.
The letter addressed the restrictive WEA message content limit of 90 characters, which forces agencies to abbreviate alerts and results in an unclear message, as well as limits on multilingual alert capabilities. I urged the agency to consider amending the alerts system to include evacuation maps in the alerts to provide father clarity during an emergency situation.
To read my full request, click here.
The FCC is set to consider changes to the WEA during their January 30, 2018 meeting. I look forward to the FCC taking action to address the shortcomings of our current alert system to better prepare for future disasters. |
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