The money is arriving. Less than a day after Governor Diane Carrow promised a one-off payment of $10,000 to every resident, the State has started paying it, and evacuees in Paleto Bay say it is already in their bank accounts.

The State’s new government portal, at gov.roleplayproject.net, is plain about it: “Payments started on 28 September 2026. Most people are paid within an hour.” Nobody has to claim. The page describes “a one-off payment of $10,000 to each person who was living in San Andreas when the earthquake struck”, and adds: “It is paid automatically. You do not need to apply.”

By mid-afternoon the State had paid 200 residents, according to figures seen by Weazel News.

On Sunday night, the Governor said the portal was “being set up now” and that it would open “in the coming days”. It took one. After days in which residents learned to doubt almost everything the State told them, this is a promise from the Office of the Governor that people can check against their own bank statement.

How it is paid

According to the portal, the $10,000 is paid once, straight into the person’s bank account. It shows on the statement as “State of San Andreas: Earthquake Support Payment”, with a reference number that starts with SAG-ESP, and a notification arrives on the person’s phone.

Under the heading “What you need to do”, the page says: “Nothing. You do not need to apply, register or visit an office.” Nor does anybody need to be in any particular place. “You do not need to be in Los Santos or Paleto Bay when it is paid, and nobody needs to travel into the Evacuation Zone.”

Who gets it, and who does not

Sunday’s statement did not say who counted as a resident. The portal does. The payment goes to “every person who was a resident of San Andreas before the earthquake struck on the evening of Friday 25 September 2026”, as long as they were recorded as a resident before the earthquake, their record is still open, and they are not recorded as deceased. Each resident is paid once.

People who arrived in San Andreas after the earthquake will not get it, and neither will people whose record is closed. The page does not say whether anything will be paid to the families of the at least 700 people who died.

How to check, and a warning

Residents can see whether the payment has been made by signing in to the portal and choosing “Check your payment”. Anyone who thinks a payment is missing or wrong is told to contact the State and choose Earthquake Support Payment.

The page ends with a line worth remembering this week: “The State will never ask you for money or for your bank details to receive this payment.” If somebody calls, texts or knocks on a motel door offering to “speed up” your $10,000 for a fee, it is not the State.

In the motel car parks

Rosa, who has been sleeping in her car outside a motel on the Great Ocean Highway since Friday night, was queuing for coffee when her phone went. She held it up so we could read it: “State of San Andreas: Earthquake Support Payment”. “I said I’d believe it when I saw it,” she said. “Well, I’ve seen it.” Her first stop is the motel reception. “A room. A real bed and a door that locks. Three nights in the car is enough.”

A few spaces along, a man was loading bags into the back of a pickup. His tools are under a collapsed garage in Murrieta Heights. “That was my living,” he said. “This buys me tools and a tank of fuel, and I can start working up here on Tuesday.” A mother of two said hers would go on groceries and school shoes. “They came up here in flip-flops,” she said.

Not everybody was celebrating. “Ten thousand dollars is kind,” said an older man who has not been able to see his house in Mirror Park since Friday. “It isn’t a house. I don’t know if my house is still standing. Nobody’s paying me for that.” A couple sitting on the kerb had refreshed their banking app all afternoon. Nothing had arrived by the time we left.

What we still do not know

The payment is one of the few things from Sunday’s statement with a date on it. The State has still not said when Los Santos will reopen; the Preservation Teams’ last estimate was Thursday, with buses leaving Paleto Bay at 10am. The Governor’s review of the wider recovery has no timetable, and she has not yet made the visit to Paleto Bay she promised “in the next few days”.

If your payment has not arrived, or if somebody has asked you for money to release it, Weazel News wants to hear from you. Our tip line is open.