CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. — Residents in Cambridge City, Ind., have only days left to apply for federal assistance after historic flooding damaged or destroyed homes on Aug. 12.
Across Indiana, more than 60,000 people have submitted applications for flood relief.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers disaster assistance for emergency repairs, personal property losses, and temporary housing.
Agency officials are encouraging impacted residents to submit their applications before the upcoming cutoff.
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FEMA spokesperson Nate Custer emphasized that eligible residents should act quickly to secure financial relief.
“You don’t want to miss out on this Sunday deadline and put yourself in a position where you’re not going to be able to get any FEMA help,” Custer said.
FEMA assistance is intended to supplement existing coverage rather than replace it.
“We do not duplicate what insurance may provide to folks, but we can certainly help fill in some gaps and put them on the road to recovery,” Custer said.
While thousands of Hoosiers are utilizing federal aid, individual recovery decisions vary.
Tony Smith, a Cambridge City resident whose family planted roots on Front Street nearly a century ago, applied for FEMA assistance after the flooding.
However, Smith decided not to accept the offered aid after determining it was not enough to rebuild his life.
Smith described the immediate disruption caused by the floodwaters. “Just how in the world are you gonna rebound from this when everything just changed your whole life, just absolutely changed,” Smith said.
Despite the destruction, Smith chose to remain on his property and rebuild without federal funds.
“There’s a sense that it’s yours. It’s home. You don’t want to leave,” Smith said. “I’ll bear the burden and I’ll do it on my own. And that’s so far the path I’m taking and I think it’ll be okay.”
Smith noted that his family lived on the property for 92 years before experiencing flood damage of this scale.
“We knew the river could do this. It’s a chance we was going to take. And in 92 years, it didn’t happen. I’m still willing to bet in my lifetime I’ll never see it again,” Smith said.
The deadline for Indiana residents to apply for FEMA assistance is Sunday.
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