City, county discuss criteria for disaster assistance
"Obviously, you know we had the huge hail storm
One of the criteria that would have to be met is having at least 25 homes that received major damage to the point where it is uninhabitable.
"So if it's temporary patch job, temporary thing like that, then you don't really qualify. Also, the homes have to have been uninsured. So again, if you had insurance you don't qualify," Eckert said.
The city and county are working together with state officials to determine whether or not there are 25 homes that had that kind of major damage. They're also asking residents who believe they meet the criteria to step forward.
A survey has been designed to illicit information to help make the determination. If any
The data collected will be used by Emergency Management officials to determine if assistance is available, according to a news release from the city. The survey will be open until midnight
"If you do qualify, if there is a determination that we have eligible people, what that means is that you'd be eligible for a
City spokesperson
"We all have seen the figure of the estimate from the insurance council of
In addition to individual assistance, officials are also looking at public assistance.
"This is more of assistance that a county or a city might receive, which is really tied to response costs, personnel costs (that are) over and above (and) beyond what they're normal duties would be," he said.
Eckert said while it's something they are pursuing independently, the standards are very stringent and strict because they cannot include insured losses in the totals.
Goodson said it's a very unique situation in
Only when the agencies have hit their capabilities and have "every officer, every firefighter, every first responder," have they maxed out their capacity to respond, she said. At this point, Goodson said she doesn't think they have maxed out local resources.
"But we did have to work together closely to respond, specifically the night of the storm," she said. "And when we start looking at, for state assistance we do need to follow the emergency management guidelines and we have to go through our emergency management coordinator."
Goodson said
"It's been 20, 30 years probably since we've had anything like this, so it's been a learning experience for us all," she said.
Eckert said the good thing about what has happened is that their team is growing and they're learning through the processes so they will be prepared in the event of an emergency.
"We know the processes involved; we have a good team here before you, as well as community resources like the
___
(c)2017 the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas)
Visit the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) at www.oaoa.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Minuteman Health to withdraw from NH Obamacare market
JUST IN: State accuses mental-health counselor of insurance fraud
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News