Hurricane Ian assistance tops $4.45 billion

Hurricane Ian's multibillion-dollar price tag keeps growing, and another storm that recently hit some overlapping areas is adding to the damages.

Assistance paid out to address the earlier storm, which made landfall on Sept. 28, now totals over $4.45 billion, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Another $3.3 million went to damages caused by Hurricane Nicole, which struck on Nov. 10.

The dollar amounts involved, which reflect loans in addition to aid and insurance claim payments, suggest the public assistance will absorb some of the costs linked to the storm. However, that won't be enough to stop the hurricanes from continuing to affect the performance of some mortgages.

For Hurricane Ian, claims from the National Flood Insurance Program have dominated at $1.72 billion, followed by Small Business Association disaster loans at $1.37 billion. Also, FEMA has allocated $859 million for household assistance and $503 million for state emergency response.

More than 256,000 home inspections have been done for Hurricane Ian survivors who applied for federal disaster assistance. In total, FEMA teams have visited almost 352,000 homes in areas eligible for individual assistance. Thousands can't currently live in their homes. A FEMA  program that provides transitional housing assistance in the form of temporary hotel stays has helped 1,625 households with 3,978 members, the agency said. 

Individuals and households that are Hurricane Nicole survivors to date have received $1.6 million of a total $1.8 million allocated for their use. The SBA also has approved $1.5 million in loan-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters and business owners affected by this storm.