HORIZON CITY, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso County officials are urging residents whose homes or property were damaged to complete the Texas Division of Emergency Management’s (TDEM)online damage assessment, emphasizing that the information could help determine whether additional state and federal assistance becomes available.
County Commissioner Iliana Holguin says resident participation is critical because officials must document a certain level of property damage to meet the thresholds required for additional funding.
“It’s really important for residents to submit this damage assessment, because we have to hit certain thresholds in order for federal and state funding to additionally become available,” Holguin said.
At the Horizon Command Post, staff members are helping residents complete the state’sonline assessment by entering property information and documenting damage.
KFOX14/CBS4 spoke with Elizabeth Aguilar, community outreach coordinator at the Agua Dulce Community Center, about how the process works.
Destiny Venecia reports on El Paso County urges residents to submit state and county damage assessments (Credit: KFOX14)
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For residents without internet access or those who need additional assistance, the Agua Dulce Community Center is offering hands-on support.
Staff can help residents upload photographs, document property damage, and submit the required information to the state.
“We could go ahead and upload the pictures for them and take the damages for them and submit everything for them to the state,” Aguilar said.
Officials are also emphasizing an important distinction between the county’s assistance process and the state’s damage assessment.
El Paso County is collecting information to help connect families with immediate needs, including clothing, hygiene products and medication assistance. The state’sassessment, however, focuses specifically on physical damage to homes and property.
That means residents who have already contacted the county for assistance must still complete the separate state damage assessment if their property was damaged.
Holguin stressed that the two processes serve different purposes and that residents should submit their property damage information directly to the state.
“The residents have to submit the damage assessment to the state directly, and that’ssuper, super important, because we have to show a certain threshold of damage to property,” Holguin said.
She reiterated that county assistance does not replace the state’s damage documentation process.
“These are two totally different things. We need to make sure that if their property, if their home was damaged, they’re submitting the damage assessment to the state directly,” Holguin said.
County officials are encouraging affected residents to complete the assessment and seek assistance at the Agua Dulce Community Center if they need help accessing or submitting the online form.
The bottom line: Contacting El Paso County for immediate assistance does not fulfill the state’s property damage assessment requirement. Residents with damaged homes or property should make sure their damage is documented and submitted directly to the state.
Damage reporting tool tutorials:
Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) Damage Surveys
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