Overview
The importance of the initial local assessment of damages cannot be over emphasized. This process is essential in determining:
- What happened and how it has affected individuals and communities
- How residential, business, and infrastructure property has been affected
- Which areas were hardest hit
- Which situations must be given response priority
- What types of assistance are needed (local, state, or federal)
Accurate and timely damage reporting is crucial to successfully requesting and receiving federal assistance in the form of either low-interest loans or grants to help Pennsylvania’s citizens, businesses, and infrastructure recover from a disaster.
Who To Report To
Elected officials: Report municipal property and infrastructure damages to the community’s emergency management coordinator.
Community emergency management coordinators: Report damages to residential, business and municipal property and infrastructure within their community to the county emergency management coordinator.
File Reports
Elected officials can connect with county emergency management coordinators directly.
Emergency managers should use our interactive web-based system that provides a systematic and accurate process of assessing damages and reporting them to federal standards and guidelines.
This system can be accessed via a web browser and on any mobile device for easy use in the field. Once the damage is rapidly collected at the municipal level, county and state emergency management can quickly analyze the data to determine the scope of damage to a specific area, county, or the state.
