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Jacksonville area residents included in historic FEMA registrations

By Christy Turner, WFTV.com and Action News Jax
By Christy Turner, WFTV.com and Action News Jax
More than one million Floridians have successfully registered for FEMA assistance following Hurricane Irma, including thousands in the Jacksonville area.
Nine counties, including Duval, have seen more than 50,000 people sign up for FEMA help so far.
The agency says that people have been registering at historic numbers, and the number of individuals registering daily is steadily increasing.
In the wake of Irma, $336 billion in federal funds have already been approved to help individuals recover, but as people pick up the pieces and rebuild, a Jacksonville woman is sending out a warning to others applying for assistance.
“Please, please - just watch because I don’t want this to happen again,” said Deborah Campbell.
Campbell said she was living in Louisiana with two other roommates when Hurricane Katrina hit, and seven years later she was forced to pay back thousands of dollars she got from FEMA.
“They’re saying that they paid multiple people in the same household, although there could only be one head of household although we were all on the lease and had individual bills,” Campbell said.
A spokesperson from FEMA said that payment could only go to one person per household.
With the number of registrants increasing after Hurricane Irma, Campbell says she’s concerned people in hard-hit areas will have to pay back thousands of dollars down the road.
“I really worry about these people in a hurricane situation now in a roommate situation,” said Campbell.
To find out more information about FEMA assistance and how to register you can call 1-800-621-FEMA.

Cox Media Group

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