King County Emergency Management wants to know if last week’s windstorm caused you any damage

Photo by P Cross

King County Emergency Management wants to know if last week’s windstorm caused you any damage. 

This information may help Washington request state and/or federal government disaster assistance. 

If your primary residence or your business was damaged by the weather, we’d like to hear from you. Here is the link to report your damages.

Frequently asked questions on damage assessments and assistance

• Why are we conducting damage assessment?
• To assess whether there has been sufficient damage for the county to receive assistance via state or federal programs.
• Access to the survey can be found at the following: KCOEM DA Survey
• When is the survey due?
• There is no due date for the survey. We want individuals and businesses to report as soon as possible, which will help us to make the case for any federal (or state) disaster assistance.
• What if I was impacted by the disaster but I do not think I qualify for assistance?
• We encourage everyone to submit, even if they have minor damages, and even if they have insurance, because it helps us to get a more comprehensive picture of the situation, adding to the totality of circumstances.
• What if I do not respond to the survey? Will that keep me from receiving assistance?
• If you do not answer the survey, you are NOT excluded from any disaster assistance that may be awarded. The survey is only to collect information to support our application/request for assistance. In addition, if they submit the survey, they’ll be added to our list to get direct notifications about the status of our requests for assistance and any grant programs that may become available.
• What is the difference between public assistance and individual assistance?
• Public assistance is support for government buildings, public good/infrastructure, and other government related operations in response to a disaster.Individual assistance is made available for a private person to receive assistance by state or federal programs should the disaster qualify.
• Is there assistance to support replacement of food?
• Unfortunately, no direct replacement is available by King County or the state. 
• If a person qualifies for food assistance through WA DSHS then there is a program to reload benefits if the person was impacted by a power outage for longer than 4 hours, and it has been reported within 10 days of the outage.
• Food Loss due to Power Outage and SNAP? Good News! There is a one time resource for food loss due to power loss/flood/ fire/or wildfires. 
• Follow These Steps: 
• 1) Call DSHS within 10 days.
• 2) Report and request replacement for food loss related to *Household Disaster* and the type: Bomb Cyclone Adverse Weather Even, Power outage. 
• 3) You may be asked on what day you lost power, and when power was restored. 
• Note: Reminder you only have 10 days from the time your power was lost to report
• 211 has information on food banks and other resources which could help in providing food assistance.

• What is the Small Business Administration?
• The Small Business Administration (SBA) is an organization which can offer low interest disaster loans to individuals and businesses impacted by disasters