The Grays Harbor County Emergency Operations Center is encouraging the public to fill out damage assessment forms that can be found on the Grays Harbor County Emergency Management website.

An accurate account of all damages incurred within Grays Harbor County is paramount.

On Dec. 10, the Grays Harbor County Board of County Commissioners declared an emergency due to excessive rainfall impacts, including widespread flooding, erosion, landslides and threats to public infrastructure.

Following this declaration, the Grays Harbor County Emergency Operations Center began to compile damage assessments throughout the county. These damage assessments are broken down into three categories: Primary Residences, Secondary/Rental Properties, and Businesses. All three of these forms are located on the Grays Harbor County Emergency Management’s Recovery website at https://www.graysharbor.us/…/emergency…/recovery.php

If you have yet to submit, every little bit counts to help Grays Harbor County make a stronger case for assistance to residents and business owners.

After compiling the damage assessments, there are two types of assistance that can be requested by Washington State Emergency Management Division on behalf of Grays Harbor County.

The first would be individual assistance from the Washington State Disaster Individual Assistance Program. Counties and tribes must still meet program criteria. The purpose of this program is to provide recovery assistance and support to impacted individuals and households, subject to the availability and allocation of funding to and by the Military Department for specific assistance programs.

The second type is Individual Assistance (IA) through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While there is no set damage amount to automatically qualify for this type of assistance, Grays Harbor County is still being evaluated for individual assistance from FEMA.