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Situation reports issued after the initial damage assessment provide an overview of areas within local jurisdictions that have sustained damage and need to be surveyed to determine the extent of damage. Following an initial damage assessment, emergency managers are responsible for issuing the situation report. This should occur within 24 hours following the disaster event. Below, IBTS provides guidance for what to include on a situation report issued after the initial damage assessment.

Critical components of a situation report include:

• Name of reporting jurisdiction
• Casualty estimates
• Areas of reported damage
• Probable extent of damage
• Nature of damage (residential, business, infrastructure)
• Impacts to critical facilities/services
• Local/mutual aid deployed
• Outside assistance needed or anticipated

Use the situation report to flag areas that need follow-up damage assessments.

• After the situation report is complete, prioritize areas that need to be assessed in greater detail.
• More detailed assessments can occur through a house-by-house, street-by-street damage assessment, and use of parcel data.

Distribute the report to appropriate stakeholders.

• Reports must be distributed to the state Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
• Reports should be distributed locally to chief elected and appointed officials, the public information officer (PIO), fire and police, and any other officials assigned to the initial damage assessment team.
• Remind your PIO that only information concerning safety, recovery assistance, and hazard mitigation may be provided to the public and the media.
• No discussion with the media should occur on anticipated damage assessment outcomes.