The Pierce County Emergency Operations Center is collecting damage information from homeowners and business owners affected by this month’s floods. Residents and business owners in the City of Tacoma and Pierce County who incurred damage should call the Department of Emergency Management damage call center at 1-866-798-6363 (toll free) between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Callers should have the following information available:

— Name and address for the property

— Type of insurance (homeowners)

— Description of damage, even if uninsured

— Personal estimate of uninsured losses

— Estimate of the fair market value of the damaged home or business.

At this time it is not necessary for property owners to have a contractor’s estimate. The findings from this assessment will be used by the governor to request a disaster declaration and federal disaster assistance from the president. This process could take a couple of weeks or more. Federal disaster assistance, if and when it becomes available, only covers uninsured losses.