See this article from California, Too few Russian River homes had ‘major damage’ to qualify for FEMA aid to individuals.
Certainly when the disaster strikes only a few homes, then there are not enough damages to qualify. The fallback is Small Business Administration (SBA), but still you need to identify 25 or more homes or businesses with uninsured losses.
Some think that a state is not representing their people if they don't ask for a declaration. Certainly, by asking for an IA declaration, state government can absolve itself of the accusation that they did nothing to help their disaster victims.
What is your state doing in advance of a disaster to be prepared to assist their citizens if there are too few impacted to qualify for disaster assistance?
Jerry Quinn shared the link above.
