After last week’s storms, Grays Harbor County Emergency Management Deputy Director Chuck Wallace is urging residents to fill out damage report forms so citizens and the county are financially reimbursed for losses to houses and public infrastructure.
The county is looking to get assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and in order for that to happen, certain damage thresholds need to be met.
After being completed, the forms will be sent to the state and then reviewed by federal officials to see if the area qualifies for a presidential Declaration of Disaster. Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency for Grays Harbor, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties last week.
According to Wallace, relief funds from FEMA come in three forms.
First, there is individual assistance, which is covered by the forms online. For individual assistance, Wallace said the threshold for aid is always changing and is based largely upon “clusters,” meaning concentrated areas that have been affected by a natural disaster. Wallace said Aberdeen’s close proximity to Hoquiam is a plus right off the bat, explaining that the more concentrated a damaged area is, the better.
Individual assistance will differ from person to person depending on how severe their damages are. Aid for individuals usually only covers specific housing needs, and not reimbursement for personal items, said Wallace. Replacing carpets, flooring, insulation, doors and windows are examples of what is covered under individual assistance.
If a threshold for individual assistance is reached, the second step of the process involves members of FEMA coming to Grays Harbor to see if the damage estimates are, in fact, correct. Wallace said this is all the more reason for everyone to fill out a damage report, because if an estimate is high and adjusters from FEMA discount some amount of assistance while double checking the estimates, it is likely the county will still be above the threshold.
If FEMA representatives do find the estimates to be above the threshold, a presidential declaration will be put into place and aid will be given to those who need it.
There is also aid available to critical infrastructure within Grays Harbor such as roads, buildings, power supplies, etc. that are imperative to keeping the area up and running. Gov. Inslee’s declaration of emergency requires at least $9.3 million of damage to infrastructure among the nine counties involved in order to receive public assistance from FEMA.
If it is determined that enough damage has been done to qualify for this assistance, members of FEMA will double check the claims as they would with individual assistance and decide whether or not a presidential declaration is warranted.
Wallace said if Grays Harbor is not able to receive FEMA assistance for public infrastructure, Aberdeen and Hoquiam would need to shoulder the costs, an expense that would not be easy for the two cities to take care of.
“It’s really tough for us to be able to recover from something like that, especially now. We still have minimal staff in most of the counties. Where else do you cut in order to make payments to fix some of these things that there may not be money for?” he said.
The last piece of the assistance puzzle deals with damage to businesses. The Small Business Administration, a U.S. government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses, is coming to the area on Friday to assess damages done to businesses around the area. The organization gives low-interest loans out to help in the case of a disaster. Wallace said, however, that the same rules apply when receiving loans from the SBA as they would anywhere else. Recipients may see their interest rates go up if they have bad credit ratings.
Wallace wanted to make it clear that just because there is the possibility of assistance, doesn’t mean it will happen.
“There is no guarantee of any money at this time. All we can do is compile the information, forward it to the state, have the state review it, and then forward it to the feds,” he said.
The biggest fear Wallace has is that people don’t report their damages because they’re afraid that their home will be condemned. He said not reporting damages hurts individuals and the community as a whole.
“We’re not looking to throw people out of their homes, we’re just trying to compile information. If we don’t receive their information, that hurts them and it hurts everybody as a whole because we’re not getting their information to add to the numbers,” he said.
Renters and homeowners can fill out damage reports online at http://ift.tt/1xZGupA. Residents without a computer should contact Chuck Wallace at (360) 249-1575 to ask for a hard copy report. Small business owners should also contact Wallace if they would like to report damages.
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