Bacliff resident Carlos David Rivera Lopez pulls wet furniture from his house on Moody Reef Drive on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Lopez’s house took in water when the area flooded in heavy rains Friday, June 4, 2021.
Lance Lindsley retrieves plywood from floodwaters outside of the garage of his house on Appleblossom Lane in Friendswood on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. Flood waters from Clear Creek caused by rain and tidal surge from Tropical Storm Beta flooded low-lying areas around the creek.
Bacliff resident Carlos David Rivera Lopez pulls wet furniture from his house on Moody Reef Drive on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Lopez’s house took in water when the area flooded in heavy rains Friday, June 4, 2021.
STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News
Lance Lindsley retrieves plywood from floodwaters outside of the garage of his house on Appleblossom Lane in Friendswood on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. Flood waters from Clear Creek caused by rain and tidal surge from Tropical Storm Beta flooded low-lying areas around the creek.
To prepare for hurricane season, the Texas Division of Emergency Management is promoting a self-reporting survey for disaster damage.
The Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool, also known as iSTAT, was created for those affected by hurricanes and other disasters, such as tornadoes and flooding, to report damages that will notify emergency management officials.
While the tool has been used for some years, the organization is now further promoting it to prepare for disasters, Galveston Emergency Management Chief Mark Morgan Sr. said.
The tool was not used during Hurricane Harvey, though it was used in some circumstances during Hurricane Laura in 2020, which caused a total of 81 fatalities. The same year, it also was more commonly used because of the COVID-19 pandemic during a time where social distancing measures remained in place.
“They’re just kind of doing more of a big push to get it out,” Morgan said.
The Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool is different from the state’s already-existing Public State of Texas Assessment Tool, known as the pSTAT. The latter is primarily for government facilities and infrastructure, while the iSTAT is meant for homes and businesses.
Those affected can visit the organization’s official website to report damages, allowing them to select whether the impacted location is a home or business, as well as specifying if they are able to stay in the home affected.
They also can specify whether they have lost electricity, natural gas and running water.
“It makes it a lot faster for us to submit our disaster outlines to the state for approval,” Morgan said. “It would give us real time data.”
A maximum of 10 photos of damage can be submitted through the survey, and submitters should not include photos of vehicles and non-residential structures, such as outbuildings and fences.
The survey also will allow people to ask for volunteer clean-up support if it is provided in the area. Completing the survey will provide information to nearby resources such as food, water, tarps and shelter.
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