Victims of Severe Weather Urged to Report Damage Online

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Hoosiers who sustained damage caused by flooding, rain and wind that began May 12 are urged to visit the Indiana Department of Homeland Security website at www.in.gov/dhs and report their damage.

Information will be taken through Friday, May 29. Affected Hoosiers will be asked to provide their name, address, phone number, extent and type of damage the property sustained. Losses can include structural damage to homes and loss of personal property.

This is not an application for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance. Information will be used to help local emergency management agencies and IDHS preliminarily assess damage to determine if federal assistance can be pursued. This is one of eight steps that must be taken to decide if we are eligible for federal assistance. Below is the eight steps of the declaration process.

THIS REPORT IS NOT AN APPLICATION FOR ANY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Be sure to consult your local permitting official before starting any repairs!

The Declaration Process

When a disaster occurs, the following steps are followed:

Step 1. Local emergency and public works personnel, volunteers, humanitarian organizations, and other private interest groups provide emergency assistance required to meet immediate human needs and restore essential services vital to public health and safety.

Step 2. At the same time, preliminary damage and impact information is gathered by local government and emergency officials and conveyed to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security Emergency Operation Center.

Step 3. If necessary, the Governor declares a state of emergency and invokes the state's emergency plan to augment individual and public needs as required, including the use of the National Guard's military resources.

Step 4. When the state determines that the recovery appears to be beyond these combined resources, a request for FEMA to conduct a preliminary damage assessment is made.

Step 5. FEMA personnel from the regional office responsible for the area where the disaster occurred are deployed and join state and local representatives to conduct joint damage assessments and submit the results to the Governor's office.

Step 6. If the state judges that this survey data indicates full recovery is beyond available capabilities, the Governor submits a written request to the President through FEMA's regional office asking that federal aid be provided under a major disaster or emergency declaration.

Step 7. Following a FEMA regional and national office review of the request and findings of the joint damage survey, the Agency's Director provides the President with an analysis of the disaster conditions and a recommendation course of action.
 
Step 8. From this information the President declares a major disaster or emergency exists in the state, or FEMA advises the Governor of a denial of the request.