Field damage assessment after hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, hail, wildfire and winter storms, documented the way FEMA, the state, the insurer and the auditor each need to see it. For tribal nations, counties and cities, school districts, private nonprofits, and the recovery primes that serve them.
Every dollar that follows a disaster traces back to the first damage record. The initial damage assessment supports the request for a joint preliminary damage assessment, and the verified numbers support the declaration request. After a declaration, the Damage Description and Dimensions in each Public Assistance project sets the scope and the cost. In the floodplain, the substantial damage estimate decides whether a building can simply be repaired or has to be brought into compliance.
Damage that is missed, miscounted or poorly photographed in the first weeks is very hard to recover later. Reviewers, auditors and appraisal panels all work from what was written down at the time.
The firm’s principal, Chris Chambers, has spent more than 25 years assessing catastrophe damage in the field after hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, hail and wildfire, from single homes to multi-building commercial and condominium complexes. That field method is paired with FEMA’s own damage assessment, site inspection and substantial damage training, listed below.
Where a damaged building is covered by both an insurance policy and a federal grant, the same record has to serve both. That overlap is handled under Stafford Act Section 312.
Send the jurisdiction or nation, the event date and a rough picture of what was hit. We will tell you what to document now, before debris removal and repairs erase it.
Delivered directly to the applicant, alongside tribal or local emergency management, or as a subcontractor to a recovery prime.
Field teams alongside tribal and local emergency management in the first days after an event: windshield and site surveys, facility and structure inventories, geotagged photographs, damage categories, and rough repair costs, organized the way a state or tribal request for a joint preliminary damage assessment has to be built.
Before FEMA and state or tribal teams arrive, the applicant's damage and cost records are organized by Public Assistance category and site, with estimates, photographs and pre-disaster condition evidence in one place. We walk sites with the teams and reconcile counts afterward, so nothing documented locally is lost in the verified total.
Damage Description and Dimensions, site inspection preparation, and facility-by-facility records written to the standard in FEMA's Public Assistance curriculum. The damage record is what the scope, the cost estimate, 406 mitigation, and every later review are built on.
After flood and other damaging events, field data collection and estimates prepared in FEMA's Substantial Damage Estimator for the community's floodplain administrator, who makes the determination. Built on flood insurance rate map and flood insurance study data.
Building-level inspection across residential, commercial, condominium and manufactured housing, including flood versus wind causation. NFIP-certified for all four building types, with 25 years of field catastrophe work behind the method.
Moisture mapping, category and class of water, drying documentation and building envelope review under IICRC Water Damage Restoration and Applied Structural Drying certification. Useful on schools, housing, clinics and government buildings where scope disputes start with water.
Multi-inspector deployments through an established network of licensed inspectors and recovery specialists, for tribal nations, local governments and recovery primes that need field capacity quickly, with quality control through the firm's principal.
Speed matters most at the start, before cleanup and repairs change what can be seen.
Event, footprint and priorities confirmed, site list and data request issued, teams scheduled.
Windshield and site surveys, structure and facility counts, hazard-specific field forms.
Geotagged photos, dimensions, pre-disaster condition evidence, and damage descriptions by site.
Repair and replacement costs, substantial damage estimates, and PA category roll-ups.
A record ready for the joint PDA, the project worksheet, the floodplain file or the insurer.
Completed FEMA Emergency Management Institute Independent Study courses that apply directly to damage assessment. They sit inside a record of 45 completed courses; the full list is on the credentials page.
| NAICS | Description | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 541990 | All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | Primary here |
| 541350 | Building Inspection Services | Secondary |
| 541611 | Administrative and General Management Consulting Services | Secondary |
| 524291 | Claims Adjusting | Firm primary |
Native American owned small business, self-certified Indian Economic Enterprise and small disadvantaged business, SBA 8(a) application in process. Available as a damage assessment subcontractor on PA and mitigation task orders. See contracting and teaming.
The federal documents this work is organized around.
Federal guidance is revised periodically. Confirm current versions with your state or tribal emergency management agency or FEMA regional office. Our FEMA program status page tracks recent changes.
An initial damage assessment is the local or tribal government's own first count of damage, made in the hours and days after an event. A joint preliminary damage assessment follows, with FEMA and state or tribal teams verifying that damage to support a declaration request. The firm supports the first and prepares the applicant's records for the second; it does not replace FEMA or state assessment teams.
No. Under a community's floodplain management ordinance, the determination belongs to the local or tribal floodplain administrator. The firm collects field data and prepares estimates with FEMA's Substantial Damage Estimator so the administrator can make and document that determination.
Public Assistance reimburses only the damage the record proves was caused by the declared event. The Damage Description and Dimensions, site inspection records and photographs written in the first weeks drive the scope, the cost and every later review, including closeout and audit.
Yes, one role per engagement. Twenty-five years of field catastrophe work for carriers is the base of the practice, and the same methods produce records that a FEMA reviewer, a state auditor or an insurer can each rely on. Where a building is covered by both a policy and a grant, that overlap is reconciled under Stafford Act Section 312.
Nationwide, with a concentration in FEMA Region 6: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. Larger events are staffed through an established network of inspectors, with quality control by the firm's principal.
Emergency managers, floodplain administrators, tribal leadership and recovery primes can reach the firm directly. Most inquiries are answered the same business day.
Okla Risk Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The firm does not act as a public adjuster and does not represent policyholders. The firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by FEMA, DHS, SBA, BIA, IHS, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, or any other government or tribal government. Indian Economic Enterprise status is self-certified under the Buy Indian Act and the SBA 8(a) application is pending. Read the full disclosures.