Jackson County residents affected by recent fires will soon have access to the FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) Program due, in part, to damage assessment data assembled by the Jackson County EOC team and multiple agencies.
After an initial flyover damage assessment, Jackson County initiated a more detailed, on-the-ground Preliminary Damage Assessment (DA). They asked for and received exceptional support from the Cities of Medford, Talent, and Ashland; Josephine County; and NW Code Professionals, all of whom contributed people and time towards the effort.
“It’s been two weeks since the fires began,” said Ted Zuk, Jackson County Development Services Director. “Jackson County has been committed to developing the information needed to begin rebuilding for victims of the fire.”
As of this release, 3,395 properties have been assessed, and the County is working on publishing the DA data on an online digital dashboard. It will provide interactive mapping and a photo of each assessed site, as well as the FEMA IA damage classification of unaffected, minor damage, major damage, or destroyed. The digital dashboard is anticipated to be made available soon via the Jackson County website.
The DA data is essential in enabling the FEMA IA Program to provide support to victims who may be uninsured or underinsured. The Program may provideassistance in the form of temporary housing, housing repairs, and replacement of essential personal property, or other related expenses. Through the IA Program, FEMA may also provide funding to the State of Oregon to support programs that address crisis counseling, disaster case management, disaster legal services, and disaster unemployment assistance.
Individuals can register for disaster assistance by calling 1-800-621-3362 or online at https://www.disasterassistance.gov/. Small business owners may apply for aid at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance.