FEMA, state teams to survey wildfire damage

Governor Mary Fallin announced representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Small Business Administration will join the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and local emergency managers in surveying damages caused by the recent outbreak of wildfires beginning Thursday.

The teams will work to determine the uninsured losses and needs of those whose homes and businesses sustained damage. The assessments mark an important step toward possibly qualifying for federal disaster assistance for individuals and business owners.

The teams will begin their assessments in Cleveland, Creek, Oklahoma and Payne counties. Other counties may be added as future local assessments are completed.

“The wildfires we’ve experienced in the last several days have burned hundreds of homes, tens of thousands of acres and lead to at least one fatality,” Fallin said. “The damage has been enormous. I am glad representatives of FEMA are here to personally see what Oklahomans have been through. It is my hope that federal assistance will be forthcoming for the individuals and business owners who have been hardest hit by this disaster.”