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Immediately after a natural disaster, the locality will perform an initial damage assessment to determine if the costs of damage incurred from the storm qualify for federal assistance. An initial damage assessment may be performed by a local official, a federal representative, or a team of both. They will go door-to-door in impacted areas and likely ask homeowners questions about damage to personal property, insurance coverage and the impact of the storm on day-to-day life.

Use these tips to know what you can expect during and after the initial damage assessment process and ensure you don’t make any mistakes that cost you funding opportunities.

Be Flexible and Patient

• Your local leaders and emergency management agency will likely provide you with an estimated timeline for when the initial damage assessment will be performed on your home, but take note that they have many other homes to assess and complexities in the process can delay their original estimates.

• If possible, report damages to your local or state government before the initial damage assessment is performed; your home will likely not need to be assessed during the initial damage assessment if this is done, saving you and the damage assessment team time. Don’t forget to report damages to outdoor property, such as outhouses, agriculture and timber.

Be Prepared

• Keep your homeowners and flood insurance policies, your agent’s contact information and your most recent home appraisal in a safe, well-identified location.
  • Consider keeping it in a waterproof safe.
  • Bring the policy and your agent’s contact information with you if you evacuate. Store your agent’s contact information in your cell phone and keep a written copy with your policy.

• Report disaster-related property damage to your insurance agent as soon as possible after an incident, and be prepared to provide as much detail as possible about damage to local emergency management about your home and neighborhood during the initial damage assessment.

• Ask questions to your damage assessor when they come for the initial assessment so that you understand the FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) application process; reporting damage does not automatically register you for FEMA assistance.

Document, Document, Document.

• While waiting for the federal government to determine if your locality qualifies for federal assistance, you should maintain records and documentation of any and all damage and out-of-pocket expenses to provide to your FEMA and insurance representative.
• Save all receipts for any disaster-related expenses such as temporary housing costs, cleaning supplies, repairs and food. Create a list of major utilities, appliances, furniture and personal property that have been damaged, and take photos of them before they are removed.

• Before removing any water or debris, take photographs of the flood water inside your home at its highest level and the debris as you found it.

• Photograph all internal and external structural damage before any repairs begin or any damaged items are removed from your property — even if you don’t see damage, take photographs.
  • Take photos from far away — show the entire wall, room or side of the house — and then move closer for specific damage.
  • Don’t forget to photograph the insides of closets, kitchen drawers and cabinets, storage sheds, garages and basements or crawl spaces — even DVD and book collections in some cases can be reimbursable if documented correctly.
  • Use rulers and tape measures to show the height and depth of damage.
  • Take a photo of any items before they are thrown away.
  • After the contents are removed from your home, photograph all electrical sockets, baseboard, floors and ceilings.

• Take pictures of debris with your home and house number in the background so there is no dispute of their credibility.

• Back the photos up on the Cloud, download them to a computer and print hard copies as soon as possible. You can also take a video of each room while describing the damage as another useful form of documentation.