Do Manatee County inspectors need to see your Helene damage? What to know about the law
With damage assessments underway in Manatee County following Hurricane Helene, the county is raising alarms about misinformation after the storm.
A social media post garnered attention and pushback from county officials after suggesting that residents should block city or county officials from inspecting their damaged property.
But the damage assessments are required by the National Flood Insurance Program, Florida Building Code and local ordinances.
Bill Logan, a spokesperson for the Manatee County Government, called the post “a serious case of misinformation.”
But Logan says substantial damage assessments are just “an initial step” to determine who they need to follow up with and send more information.
“Homeowners will still need to work with their insurance, permitting, FEMA (if applicable) and their contractor to make sure all regulations and thresholds are met,” Logan said.
Helene damage assessments required by law
Manatee County assessments teams deployed shortly after the storm for initial “drive-by” damage assessments within affected areas of the community in order to determine the number of residential and commercial structures that were impacted.
“We did not see a need for self-reporting of these initial damage assessments like we may have leveraged in other storm events, because the effects of Helene were isolated to our coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas,” Deputy County Administrator Courtney De Pol said.
Now, De Pol says substantial damage assessments are underway, which are “completely different” than the initial damage assessments and are the ones mentioned in the social media post. These assessments are required by the National Flood Insurance Program, Florida Building Code and local ordinances for all affected structures within the flood zone.
During substantial damage assessments, FEMA says local officials need to determine a building’s market value. If the cost to repair is 50% or more of the market value, the building must be brought into compliance with current local floodplain management standards.
“Rebuilding to current standards decreases risk to life and property and prevents future disaster suffering,” according to FEMA.
However, Logan said if something is deemed “substantially damaged,” it does not necessarily mean it is condemned.
“Until all variables of a specific house or business can be considered, there is no way to determine if a house is condemnable without having a complete inspection,” said Logan.
For more information about substantial damage assessments, you can visit FEMA.gov.
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 4:45 PM.
