County Completes Initial Damage Assessments, Requests Assistance from Property Owners in Continuing Assessments

In the three days after flood waters receded, Permit Sonoma staff conducted initial damage assessments on more than 2,000 properties in the lower Russian River area. Of the structures assessed, 35 have received red tags, which means that the building is damaged and poses an imminent threat to life or safety under expected loads or other unsafe conditions, and 600 have received yellow tags, which means inspectors determined that they pose some risk as a result of damage to the building.

With these initial damage assessments completed, six teams will return to affected areas Tuesday to further assess the damages. These teams are comprised of representatives from Permit Sonoma, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The teams will assess the extent of damages to homes and businesses, and the information captured will help in a request for federal assistance. Teams will likely need to access private property and to speak to individuals to assess damage. Residents and business owners may be asked for permission to enter properties to verify the damages. The more data that can be captured to reflect the impact and need, the stronger the case will be when requesting assistance.

The information collected by these teams will help the State and Federal agencies determine if a Federal Disaster Declaration is warranted, which may open up Individual Assistance to property owners. It is not typical for Sonoma County to receive Individual Assistance after floods.

Residents are encouraged to visit the Local Assistance Center (LAC) to ask questions, obtain resources, and apply for assistance programs. Further, there are several debris drop-off sites located throughout the affected areas for residents to dispose of items damaged in the floods. In order to expedite clean up and recovery, it is imperative that no one leaves debris in the streets.

For current emergency information, please visit www.socoemergency.org