Damage Assessments Begin in West Tennessee

There remain 1,850 customers without power in Lake and Obion Counties. As of Tuesday morning, there were just 9 persons in American Red Cross shelters in Tennessee.

 

The assessments being conducted by FEMA are required for a formal request of federal aid. To receive a declaration for federal assistance under the Stafford Act, the state must show that the financial impact of damages to government infrastructure and the cost of response efforts state-wide is more than $7.4 million, which is the threshold established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA Administrator can recommend a federal disaster without damage assessments only if there has been significant loss of life.

 

Once a Presidential Disaster has been declared, then state’s agencies, local governments and other entities that serve the public, such as electric utilities, that suffered damage or incurred expenses during the emergency response or cleanup to the storm may become eligible to get reimbursed through FEMA’s Public Assistance program.

 

 Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director James Bassham does not expect Tennessee to qualify for FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, which provides help recovering from disasters to households and private businesses.

 

“The damage to individual households was not sufficient to trigger this type of assistance from FEMA. However, TEMA will assist local county emergency management where possible to match individual needs with non-governmental programs, such as those offered by members of the Tennessee Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters,” Bassham explained.

 

The State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville continues to coordinate emergency responses in the northwest portion of the Tennessee along the border with Kentucky.

 

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