Assessment team stops at homes around town to talk to residents, get a sense of flood damage; toll passes $3 million
By Per Peterson
A preliminary damage assessment team made up of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Homeland Security Emergency Management (HSEM), and Small Business Administration (SBA) officials toured various areas of Tracy on Tuesday to talk to homeowners and get a sense of the toll the July 3 flood had on the city.
The five-member team wasted little time in going to select homes and businesses, and will take the information they garnered from its stop in Tracy to determine what the next step is.
Sandy Jasmund, FEMA external affairs officer, said that Tuesday’s preliminary damage assessment is one step in the process of moving toward potential individual assistance.
Everyone should’ve called in originally to their local emergency manager or city office, and we’re there to look at properties that local officials know had damage,” Jasmund said. “They’ll be going to different areas — wherever state and local officials would like us to go. We’re there for as long as we need to be there.”
Tracy Police Chief Jason Lichty on Tuesday reported that the city has sustained about $3.1 million in damages.
The FEMA agents did not enter any homes Tuesday.
“Normally we don’t go into the houses,” Jasmund said. “There’s ways of checking damage, and this is only an assessment at this time. People tell us what has happened to them and we tabulate that information.”
Nathan Swanson, who lives at the intersection of 3rd and Hollett streets, had 37 inches of rain and raw sewage in his home and is dealing with a leaning foundation wall to boot.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.