FEMA Offers New Grants to Aid Homeowners : Recovery: Extension of repair program will help safeguard residences in future earthquakes.

Thousands of Southland homeowners who suffered damage in the Northridge earthquake are eligible for new grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help safeguard their homes in future quakes.

FEMA is sending letters this week to roughly 200,000 homeowners who qualify for the additional funding.

These are people who previously received FEMA “minimal home repair grants” of $10,000 or less following the Jan. 17 quake.

The new grants are an extension of the home repair program, said Frank Kishton, FEMA federal coordinating officer. This is the first time that the agency has offered them in the wake of a federal disaster.

“Not only do we want to assist people with critical repairs not covered by insurance, but we also would like to make their homes better able to withstand damage in the event of future earthquakes,” Kishton said.

In its letter to homeowners, FEMA lists 10 measures that can help minimize quake damage and the maximum allowable grant for each measure.

For example, FEMA will pay as much as $50 of a homeowner’s cost to strap down a water heater. The agency will pay as much as $150 of the cost to secure a chimney or mobile home.

Under the new program, FEMA may also pay at least part of the cost of these projects:

* Bolting the walls of a house to its foundation.

* Anchoring fuel or pressure storage tanks.

* Securing water well surface pumps.

* Fortifying a mobile home against wind damage.

* Bracing the “cripple walls” of the crawl space under many older houses.

Homeowners eligible for the new grants should visit a FEMA earthquake service center before starting such projects, FEMA spokesman Russ Edmonston said.

Building specialists at the service centers can answer questions that may prevent some homeowners from spending money needlessly. The specialists can also recommend which preventive measures would be most appropriate.

There is no deadline for applying for the new grants, Edmonston said. “But we encourage people to work with the service centers as expeditiously as possible.”

After completing projects, homeowners should return to the FEMA center where they applied for a grant with verifiable receipts for their expenses.

FEMA representatives will review the receipts and mail checks to homeowners, reimbursing them up to the stated limits.