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Water and Wastewater All-Hazards Boot Camp
Response
Response
Response
Damage Assessments
The damage assessment process is an on-going effort that includes three phases:
  • 1st Phase: Initial Damage Assessment begins immediately after the disaster
  • 2nd Phase: Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) occurs just prior to a request for federal assistance if required
  • 3rd Phase: Detailed Damage Assessment takes place if a federal declaration is received
The Initial Damage Assessment is conducted to quickly determine impacts to utility operations and prioritization of repairs. Information on preliminary and detailed damage assessments will be presented during the recovery module.

Access the example Water System Status Report to see the types of key elements that should be recorded during initial damage assessments.

Engineer inspecting damage
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Our Town Utility staff starts the three-phase process of assessing damages to their utility due to flooding and high winds. Utility operations staff use cameras to document damaged equipment and facilities prior to beginning repair work and save the photo details in a log.

Local and state officials use the Initial and Preliminary Damage Assessments to document and quickly substantiate requests for disaster declarations and state and federal assistance. If required, the Detailed Damage Assessment is used as the initial building block to formulate reimbursement projects for repair or restoration under FEMA's Public Assistance Grant Program.
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