AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved the Maine Emergency Management Agency's (MEMA) request to begin a Preliminary Damage Assessment after last week's storm that brought flooding, power outages, and infrastructure damage across the state.
The preliminary assessment is the first formal step toward requesting a Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government, a news release from Gov. Mills' office said Tuesday.
"MEMA has begun working with local partners to estimate the cost of damage caused by last week’s storm," the release stated. "At the direction of Governor Mills, MEMA last Friday requested that FEMA dispatch Federal officials to Maine as soon as possible to begin the process of conducting the Federal Preliminary Damage Assessment, in which FEMA reviews and validates damage assessments gathered by local officials."
Following FEMA's approval Tuesday of that request, the two agencies are now working together to schedule the assessments, according to the release.
"If from these assessments FEMA agrees that the costs associated with the storm are beyond the capabilities of the State to address, the Governor will formally request a Major Disaster Declaration from the President," the release said.
Mills continues to encourage Mainers who were impacted by the storm to report their property damage by calling 211 to help the state estimate the full impact of the storm, as well as to request the maximum amount of federal aid that is available, Mills' office said.
"Reporting damage is not an application for assistance, and Maine people are still encouraged to file claims with homeowners or auto insurance," Mills' office added.
"We welcome this quick approval from FEMA and look forward to working with them to validate damage from the storm so that we can request a Major Disaster Declaration from the President as soon as possible," Gov. Mills said in the release Tuesday.
"We are grateful to FEMA for their strong partnership," MEMA Director Pete Rogers said. "Validating damage is a critical step in the process of unlocking Federal funding to help Maine communities, so we continue ask the public to report storm and flood damage by calling 2-1-1."