FEMA to inspect Palm Coast tornado damage

Published: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 2:01 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 10:14 p.m.

PALM COAST A team of inspectors will visit the area ravaged by Saturdays tornado and record every caved-in roof, punctured siding and ripped shingle among the 180 homes that were affected by the storm.

The team will include representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as state and city officials. Representatives from Flagler County Emergency Management and the Flagler County Property Appraisers office also will participate.

Cindi Lane, a spokeswoman with the city of Palm Coast, said the tour will stretch across the Indian Trails neighborhood near Belle Terre Parkway, as well as damaged homes in proximity to Old Kings Road and along Colchester Lane and Cimmeron Drive, and could last for more than a day. The team will start looking at the damage about 10 a.m. Thursday, she said.

Property owners are not required to be home during the tour, but all residents are encouraged to notify the city of damage, no matter how minor, said Lane.

All of the damage gets checked by the inspection team and after it is verified, it gets added to the total. Those with severe damage will have a better chance to qualify for aid as that total cost estimate increases, Lane said.

Flagler County Public Safety Emergency Manager Kevin Guthrie said any aid from FEMA likely would come in the form of loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Such loans, which must be repaid, are designed to assist homeowners and businesses awaiting insurance relief but who are having to wait for extended periods because of backlogs.

Mayor Jon Netts declared Palm Coast a local state of emergency two days after the storm. That declaration makes the city eligible for state and federal aid.

Any municipality is eligible to have an SBA team from FEMA visit a storm site if 25 or more homes or businesses sustained damage of at least 40 percent of their replacement value, Guthrie said.

Flagler County Property Appraiser Jay Gardner said Wednesday he had visited mostly all of the areas that sustained storm damage. For training purposes, he sent about five teams from his office to look at damage and come back with assessments. For the most part, those assessments were consistent, he said.

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FEMA to inspect Palm Coast tornado damage