CASS COUNTY — Two weeks after record-setting floods in Cass County, residents are still working to recover from the damage done to their homes and businesses. They are clearing away wreckage, replacing damaged items and doing whatever they can to repair impacted walls and floors. However, something many residents have yet to do is report flood damage to the county.

“Right now, we know we’ve got a lot of damage that people are just not reporting, and by not reporting our numbers are low,” said David Smith, Cass County emergency management coordinator. “So what we’re trying to do is get all of the information, which goes into a database and it’s all coordinated by the state. If we have enough damages, then the state may even make a presidential request for a presidential declaration. Right now, we’re kind of a long ways away from that because people have not been reporting.”

The most efficient way for residents to report destruction from the flood is to fill out the Cass County damage assessment, which can be found on the Cass County Michigan Emergency Management Facebook page. This online form prompts residents to enter their name, email address, phone number, address of affected home or business, whether flood water was on the first floor or not, give a brief description of the damage and state whether the damage is covered by insurance.

Residents may also report the damage by emailing Smith at davids@cassco.org or calling him at (269) 445-1460 and providing the same information required in the online assessment.

“The reason that’s important is because we are trying to get funding or any resources that we can,” Smith said. “And right now we’re not expecting too much.”

Smith acknowledges that even if people do report all the damage done to homes and businesses, there is no guarantee that the county will receive funding. However, there are other advantages to reporting damage besides potentially receiving federal funding.

Most of  the information reported will be directed towards 2-1-1, which allows the county to provide them with more information. For instance, recently the American Red Cross was in the community to provide cleaning kits to residents affected by flood damage. But without knowing everyone who was impacted, it was difficult to make sure that people affected by the flood received a kit.

According to Smith, other reasons it’s important for residents and business owners to report flood damage are:

• It provides information that can help local officials when deciding if there is enough damage to make an emergency declaration.

• It will provide critical information for a coordinated response in the event of future flooding by directing support toward regularly affected areas.

There is not a specific deadline for when flood damages need to be reported, but the sooner the county has that information the better.

“We’d like to get it in as fast as we can, but we know right now, just like with the road commission, [people are] having trouble getting all of their information in because the water levels are so high,” Smith said. “[Likewise, the commission] can’t tell what damage has been done to bridges or things like that, and it is the same way with people’s homes.”

In the meantime, Smith encourages people to take pictures of any flood damage and keep any receipts related to flood cleanup or replacing items that were damaged. Lastly, he said sharing this information with family and friends is integral to getting the word out about reporting damage.

“Really, social media is where we get the biggest response because people can share the link with friends and family, and that’s important too,” he said. “Even though you may not be affected, friends, family and neighbors may be affected, so get the word out as much as you can and offer whatever help you can. … You may have a person next to you who needs help cleaning out stuff like that. That’s where normal citizens can step up.”