Residents Asked For Damage Reports

Storm notebook

The Spokane County Department of Emergency Management needs to know how much private property damage was caused by the recent ice storm.

Officials are asking residents whose homes or businesses were harmed by fallen trees, branches or ice to send a damage assessment to the emergency department.

The information will help determine if the county meets the minimum dollar loss to qualify for federal disaster money.

That magic dollar figure isn’t known yet, said Director Dave Byrnes.

The department needs the following information:

The resident’s name, address and phone number.

Whether the resident owns or rents the property.

Whether the property is a private residence, secondary residence, mobile home, farm or business.

An estimated dollar loss.

The percentage of loss covered by insurance.

Whether the property is habitable.

Any comments about the damage that might prove useful.

Damage assessments should be mailed to the Spokane Department of Emergency Management at 1121 W. Gardner, Spokane, 99201-2072.

For more information, call the Washington State Emergency Management Department at 1-800-562-6108 and ask for a disaster recovery staff member.

Snow-removal budget at zero

Spokane’s $1.2 million ice- and snow-removal budget - left thin after last winter’s storms - is down to zero, Bruce Steele, city transportation director, said in a written statement.

The ice storm that knocked the Inland Northwest for a loop last week also devastated the stockpile of de-icer, Steele said, adding “sand is still in good supply.”

The city continues to get de-icer from its supplier.

The department “would have been able to make it to the end of 1996 … if there had not been the tremendous impact of the fallen trees and debris,” Steele said.

Cleanup could take at least five weeks and cost nearly $1.3 million, Steele said. The costs should be paid by state emergency dollars.

Despite the empty bank account, the city will continue to plow and deice city arterials. Money will be transferred from other departments, said acting City Manager Bill Pupo.

Residential streets won’t be plowed unless they have at least six inches of packed snow.

Qualchan light show postponed

Spokane Winter Lights, the city’s drive-through holiday light show at the Creek at Qualchan Golf Course, won’t open Friday as planned.

Out of respect for Spokane County residents still without power, the Parks Department chose to delay the show’s opening.

Winter Lights is scheduled to open Monday at 5 p.m. Admission is $6 per car, $18 per van.

, DataTimes