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Even though floodwaters from the recent storms in the Atlanta area have receded, residents are still grappling with the damage that has left them homeless, uprooted their lives and shut down bridges and major roadways. Governor Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency in 17 counties and President Obama issued a Federal Disaster Declaration for individual assistance to aid residents of Cobb, Paulding, Douglas and Cherokee counties with recovery efforts. Shortly after the storms passed Georgia's Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) conducted an aerial damage assessment of Cobb County, one of the hardest hit areas. Initial estimates indicated more than 800 homes and 75 businesses with extensive flooding damage. A complete assessment is expected to take several weeks in just Cobb County alone. Needless to say GEMA was stretched too thin to handle damage assessments in all affected regions quickly so within days the call for volunteers was issued from the Georgia Association of Floodplain Managers to all member firms - of which WK Dickson is very active. As a result, FEMA provided volunteers from the WK Dickson Atlanta office with training in the use of Residential Substantial Damage Estimator (RSDE) software to help hasten the process for determining damage estimations. WK Dickson staff will visually inspect damaged homes along the Chattahoochee floodplain to look for structural damage, high water marks and other signs that point to whether a home is habitable or not. The results of their volunteer efforts will help residents apply for state and federal aid much more quickly and hopefully bring some normalcy back into there lives.
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For
questions or comments email info@wkdickson.com
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