Did storms damage your property? Sacramento County wants to hear from you
The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services on Tuesday asked residents to help officials assess the full extent of recent storm damage to get recovery services where they’re needed the most.
Sacramento County residents were asked to submit information about property damage from the series of winter storms, according to a news release. Officials will use that information to determine when and where to establish a Local Assistance Center, which the county activates after major disasters.
Over the past several days, the Northern California storms with heavy rain and powerful wind gusts have flooded neighborhoods, created widespread power outages and knocked numerous trees and utility poles creating extensive damage throughout the Sacramento area.
The Local Assistance Centers support residents and businesses with disaster-related losses or damages with recovery services. County officials said a decision must be made regarding location before they can set-up the center.
The center’s location will be based on where the most storm damage occurred. All information will be sent to the county’s Office of Emergency Services and reported to state and federal emergency response agencies. Submitting this information is not the same as a report for insurance.
“County OES is coordinating with all local partners to collect public property damage assessments and are preparing to deploy assessment teams to identify and document areas impacted by storm damage,” officials said in the news release.
Residents with homes or businesses with storm damage within Sacramento County can submit their information online. Residents can call 311 or go online to report downed trees on public property or flooded roads in Sacramento County.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District on Tuesday said the series of storms since New Year’s Eve have created the most storm damage in SMUD’s history, causing power outages for nearly 600,000 homes and businesses. The storms knocked down more than 300 power poles, each of them takes a full crew eight hours to replace.
The storm also have knocked down 1,800 wires, mostly from trees into lines. SMUD reported 650 downed and broken trees. Officials said on Tuesday afternoon that SMUD crews had restored power to 98 percent of those homes and businesses affected by outages.
About 12,000 SMUD customers remained without power; some of those homes and businesses will remain without power for several more days as more than 100 crews work “around-the-clock to restore power,” SMUD officials said in a news release.
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
