FEMA Now Requires Disaster Victims to Have an Email Address

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will now require disaster survivors to register for federal aid using an email address—a departure from previous policy where email addresses were optional. The move, FEMA employees say, puts people across the US with little to no access to internet services at risk of losing out on crucial federal financial assistance after disasters. In an internal operational update document, the agency states that the new requirements are “an important step to prepare for the transition to digital payment methods and enhance communication with survivors throughout the application process.” The changes, the document states, are intended to support an executive order signed in March aimed at discontinuing federal paper-based payments. The changes were effective August 12, according to the document. The rollout of the new policy appears to have caught staff on the ground by surprise, as they were suddenly unable to register people for aid without email addresses. Two FEMA workers providing assistance to survivors of disasters in Missouri and Tennessee said that the new policy has already caused issues.