People who live or have businesses in Pennsylvania’s disaster declared counties will now get more time to seek help for losses  from Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee.    

December 14th is the new deadline to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help in recovering from losses from the storms. That’s a one month extension from the original November 14th deadline. 

It’s also the new deadline for those who have applied to return their SBA Loan applications, crucial in the next step to receiving assistance.

Through November 4th, over 88 thousand households have registered with FEMA and over 122 million dollars in grants have been approved. Almost 54 million in Small Business Administration loans have been approved for renters, homeowners and business owners affected by Irene or Lee.

FEMA spokeswoman Susan Solomon says you can always turn down the help if you find you don’t need it. The number to call is 1-800-621-3362.

Solomon says there are a lot of people who feel they can take care of themselves and they don’t want to take help away from anyone else.  She says when you register with FEMA, it does not add to or take away from what anyone else might receive in disaster assistance.

Solomon says there are also people who may be waiting for their insurance settlement.  She says they want those people to also register with FEMA. It will allow them to be eligible for certain types of help in case something goes wrong with their insurance settlement.