Disaster specialists to assess flooding, storm damage in six more Missouri counties

(From Gov. Eric Greitens)

Gov. Eric Greitens today announced teams of local, state and federal disaster specialists will conduct joint damage assessments of flooding and severe storm damage in six more Missouri counties as the Governor prepares to make a request for a federal major disaster declaration.

The additional counties in which Preliminary Damage Assessments will be conducted for Individual Assistance are: Franklin, Iron, Laclede, St. Louis, and Wayne.

The additional counties in which Preliminary Damage Assessments will be conducted for Public Assistance are: Franklin, Perry, and St. Louis.

Also, Barry County, which had originally requested assessments for Individual Assistance, has withdrawn that request.

Individual Assistance teams assess damage to homes and personal property. Teams do not visit every house; the assessments are meant to get a broad overview of damage.

Public Assistance teams assess disaster damage to public infrastructure like roads, bridges, and schools as well as to certain nonprofit entities.

Participating jointly in the teams are local emergency managers and officials, SEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and, for Individual Assistance, the U.S. Small Business Administration. Team members will carry official identification. Residents should not hesitate to request that they show their ID.

Those affected by the flooding and severe storms are encouraged to report damage to their local emergency management officials and to document losses, including photographing damage and retaining receipts.

Individuals and business owners should notify their insurance companies of damage and not wait for damage assessments.

On May 10, Gov. Greitens announced Preliminary Damage Assessments for Individual Assistance would be conducted in the following counties based on initial assessments conducted locally: Barry (since withdrawn), Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Christian, Crawford, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Gasconade, Greene, Howell, Jasper, Madison, Maries, McDonald, Morgan, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, Ste. Genevieve, Shannon, Stone, Taney, Texas, and Wright.

In the coming days, additional counties may be added to the request for either Individual Assistance or Public Assistance damage assessments as theMissouri State Emergency Management Agency receives more information from local officials.

For information about Missouri flooding recovery and resources check Mo.gov/flood. The site is regularly updated with new information.