Damage Assessment
Damage Assessment is the process for determining the nature and extent of the loss, suffering, and/or harm to the community resulting from a natural, accidental or human-caused disaster.
Damage assessment provides situational awareness and critical information on:
- Type, scope and severity of the event
- Impact on individuals and communities
- Additional resource needs
- Justification for disaster declaration
- Emergency public information
- Future hazard mitigation projects
Gathers estimates on:
- Number of persons displaced and in need of housing
- Number of persons in shelters
- Number of persons injured
- Number of verified fatalities
- Number, degree of structural loss, and financial cost of private property damage
Structural loss is evaluated on 4 criteria:
- Destroyed: total loss, permanently uninhabitable
- Major: uninhabitable, extensive repairs required that will take more than 30 days to complete
- Minor: uninhabitable, repairs can be completed in less than 30 days
- Affected: no structural damage, habitable without repairs
Public Assistance Damage Assessment
Evaluates the impact to eligible public and non-profit entities including:
Cities Villages Special Districts Counties Certain Private Non-Profits State Agencies Townships Schools State Universities
The PA process captures the actual costs incurred to date and the estimated cost to complete response and recovery operations in seven (7) areas:
- Category A: Debris Removal
- Category B: Emergency Protective Actions
- Category C: Road Systems
- Category D: Water Control Facilities
- Category E: Building and Equipment
- Category F: Utilities
- Category G: Parks, Recreational and Other