ABA mobilizes to help survivors of hurricanes Ian and Fiona

The American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Disaster Legal Services Program, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local legal aid offices, is providing legal assistance to survivors of several recent natural disasters, including hurricanes Ian in Florida and Fiona in Puerto Rico.

Hotlines are available to connect survivors who cannot afford an attorney to free legal services in qualifying areas. Individuals may get help with such legal issues as:

• FEMA and SBA financial benefits
• Home repair contracts and property insurance claims
• Re-doing wills and other important legal documents destroyed or lost in the disaster
• Price gouging, scams or identity theft
• Landlord or tenant problems, or threats of foreclosure
• Disability-related access to federal, state and local disaster programs

Since September 2007, YLD has responded to more than 238 declared disasters in 45 states and five U.S. territories.

Hurricanes, wildfires, floods and tornadoes are among the more than 300 federal major disaster declarations across the United States and territories in the past five years. The increasingly common catastrophes underscore the importance of disaster resiliency, which is the ability to prepare for, absorb, recover from and better adapt to changed circumstances.

“Legal issues inevitably arise after natural disasters,” said ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross. “The ABA’s Disaster Legal Services Program has been mobilizing lawyers for 15 years to help people quickly get the aid they need to get back on their feet. We applaud the lawyers who assist our fellow citizens recovering from a disaster.”

Legal aid and pro bono attorneys who want to access additional specialized disaster advocacy resources can join the National Disaster Legal Aid Advocacy Center (www.disasterlegalaid.org/advocates), a growing online community of advocates working on disaster response and recovery.