WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2018 — Working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local legal aid offices, the Disaster Legal Services Program of the ABA Young Lawyers Division(ABA YLD) has a plan in place to provide legal assistance to disaster victims in the path of Hurricane Florence.
Telephone hotlines will be set up in the states declared disaster areas to connect victims to lawyers who can respond to disaster-related legal issues that include landlord/tenant problems, insurance claims, FEMA claims and consumer issues such as contractor fraud.
“With Hurricane Florence about to batter the U.S. east coast, the ABA wants everyone in its path to stay safe and secure,” ABA President Bob Carlson said. “Once the storm passes and the damage can be assessed, the ABA, through its network of volunteers, stands ready to assist those affected by the hurricane with any of the legal needs that so often arise after these natural disasters.”
Since September 2007, the ABA YLD has responded to more than 178 declared disasters in 44 states and four U.S. territories. In the last year, hundreds of lawyers volunteered to provide legal assistance to those affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as wildfires in the West and other natural disasters.
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