Pettis County and City of Sedalia officials met at the Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday afternoon to discuss assessing water damage to county and city property. Later that night, the Pettis County Commission and Sedalia Mayor Andrew Dawson issued a disaster declaration.
“This official declaration invokes certain emergency powers for use by the Mayor in addressing the effects of the disaster,” the news release stated. “Such powers facilitate quicker actions to mitigate damages to public infrastructure and property of citizens, as well as, timely restoring essential operations and services.”
To classify the water damage as a state of emergency, the state of Missouri has to reach a threshold of $10.2 million. If the state does not meet the threshold, it will be on the local governments to pay for the water damage.
The Pettis County Commissioners invited Region A Coordinator Gloria Brandenbarg from the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency to explain the process, chain of command and coordination with the county and city.
“All the disasters start locally. The state is here to support and help and advice where we can, when we can,” Brandenbarg said.
Brandenbarg added that city and county officials will need to do an initial damage assessment to estimate the damages in a jurisdiction.
There was a lot of road damage due to flooding, so Pettis County Road and Bridge crews were each assigned a corner of the county Thursday morning to assess the damage.
“The local jurisdictions within the county will put together this information that’s needed and then they go back to the county EMD….” Brandenbarg said. “She (SPCEMA Director Trisha Rooda) will collect all of this, put it all together and send one final form to me that includes all the jurisdictions within the county and then I will forward that up to our public assistance folks and then they will collect that throughout the state.”
If this meets the $10.2 million or more requirement, SEMA will start working with the governor to set up a request for a presidential declaration. From there, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will do a preliminary damage assessment to verify the damages and make sure that what is being reported is claimable.
There are no assurances that federal financial assistance will be forthcoming until those areas impacted by the storm have completed the assessment process, including estimates of recovery costs for clean-up and repair, to determine if the FEMA thresholds are met.
The city is asking for residents to gather their own information and encourage and assist their neighbors in completing the process.
Both county and city officials are asking residents to gather and submit water damages so the information can be included in the damage assessment. City residents within city limits should report to the city and county residents outside of city limits should report to the county.
City residents
• Visit sedalia.com and click on the blue tab labeled "Report Issues/Ask Questions." When the "Customer Portal" window opens, click on "Report Issue/Ask Question."
• In the box under "Issue Description," describe briefly the flood damage you experienced. Be sure to include the date and time the flood damage occurred; if the flood damage is in the basement, include the depth of the water in the basement; list of items damaged by the flood waters with the approximate value; and steps taken to clear the flood water and restore the basement to pre-flood conditions.
• In the “Browse file” section, attach all your collected documentation, which could include photos of the flooded basement before cleanup and damaged property, receipts for the cost of remediation of damages, receipts for costs of the replacement property, estimates for the cost of repairs, and any invoices related to the cost of remediation and repairs.
• When you reach "Select Category,” choose "Rain Disaster 05-31-22."
• Fill out the remaining information such as name, address, email address, and phone number before hitting “submit.”
County residents
County residents will have the ability to report damages to private property and County infrastructure, such as roadways and bridges, for assessment purposes in the following ways:
• Visit pettiscomo.com/report-flood-damage.
• Pick up a Flood Damage Report form at the Pettis County Road and Bridge Department, 1511 N. Ohio Ave. in Sedalia.
• Leave a voicemail at 1-660-827-3700, including your name, phone number, address or exact location of the damage, and description of damages.
