The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act allows assistance to state and local governments, and some not-for-profits, to support the uninsured costs of response, recovery and preventive efforts after presidentially declared emergencies. Under the Stafford Act, there are two kinds of federal declarations: Emergency Declarations and Major Disaster Declarations.

1. Emergency Declarations occur any time the president determines federal assistance is needed to supplement state and local efforts to save lives, protect public health, safety, and property, and, lessen the threat of a catastrophe. Financial assistance from emergency declarations is designed for smaller emergencies and capped at $5 million.
2. Major Disaster Declarations occur when the federal government determines that damage from a natural event, fire, flood, or explosion has exhausted recovery resources of state and local government authorities. Major Disaster Declaration programs include Public Assistance and Individual Assistance.

For more information, visit FEMA's website.

Public Assistance is aid to help government agencies respond to and recover from emergencies. It can fund both the cost of emergency protective measures taken to respond to an event, plus the uninsured costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of public property damaged by the disaster. When there is a declaration, state and local governments, Native American tribes and certain private not-for-profits may be eligible for public assistance. Visit FEMA's website for more information.

Hazard mitigation assistance provides funding to state and local governments for long-term planning solutions that reduce the impact of hazards on property and human life. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers several hazard mitigation assistance programs that are available for jurisdictions after a presidentially-declared disaster.