FEMA announces the release of the agency’s updated Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide (PDA Guide) and its accompanying Preliminary Damage Assessment Pocket Guide (PDA Pocket Guide). The PDA Guide will be effective on June 8, 2020 and will have a one-year public comment period until June 8, 2021. The purpose of the public comment period is to give state, local, tribal, and territorial government partners and stakeholders who participate in preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) an opportunity to provide feedback to FEMA on the PDA process.
The PDA Guide and its accompanying PDA Pocket Guide establish a framework for how emergency management officials, at every level of government, document and validate details of damage following a disaster. The guide includes a concept of operations, defined roles and responsibilities, recommended methodologies and the documentation and data required to validate damage. The PDA Guide supersedes FEMA’s 2016 Damage Assessment Operations Manual.
Find the PDA Guide and PDA Pocket Guide and comment matrices on the FEMA website: Preliminary Damage Assessment Guide. Use the appropriate comment matrix and submit comments to FEMA-RecoveryPolicy-Inbox@fema.dhs.gov.
Webinars Offered
FEMA is hosting three webinar opportunities to learn more about the PDA Guide:
May 26, 2020, 14:00 EDT
- Adobe Connect Webinar: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/pdaguidepresentation/
- Audio for the webinar is available through a telephone dial-in: 1-888-270-9936; Access Code 4025899#
- Closed Captioning Link: https://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?EventID= 4441425&CustomerID=321
May 27, 2020, 14:00 EDT
- Adobe Connect Webinar: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/pdaguidepresentation/
- Audio for the webinar is available through a telephone dial-in: 1-888-270-9936; Access Code 4025899#
- Closed Captioning Link: https://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?EventID= 4441432&CustomerID=321
May 28, 2020, 14:00 EDT
- Adobe Connect Webinar: https://fema.connectsolutions.com/pdaguidepresentation/
- Audio for the webinar is available through a telephone dial-in: 1-888-270-9936; Access Code 4025899#
- Closed Captioning Link: https://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?EventID= 4441434&CustomerID=321