Hamilton County Emergency Management staff and volunteers are going door to door this week documenting what the record White River flood did to local homes, the first step in a three-stage review that could determine whether federal aid ever reaches individual residents.

Teams began initial assessments Tuesday and are working neighborhood by neighborhood. Volunteers were in Riverwood on Wednesday — one of the hardest-hit areas in the county — and will be out each day until the work is finished.

“We really need residents to take a few minutes to talk with our teams when they see us in their neighborhood,” said Monica Peterson, Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator for Hamilton County Emergency Management. “The more complete picture we can provide of what happened here, the stronger the case we can make as we move through the state and federal assessment process.”

Why the paperwork matters more than it sounds

The clipboard-and-camera work happening on Hamilton County streets this week is not a formality. It is the raw material for a federal decision.

The local assessments are the first of three levels of review. Once the county finishes, it conducts a second assessment jointly with the State of Indiana, and a third with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those joint state-federal preliminary damage assessments began statewide on Aug. 18.

Here is the part that catches many residents off guard: Hamilton County is already covered by a federal emergency declaration. President Trump approved one for 53 Indiana counties, including Hamilton, on Aug. 15. But an emergency declaration is not the same thing as a major disaster declaration. The first largely reimburses governments for emergency response costs — sandbags, overtime, debris removal, protective measures. It does not write checks to flooded homeowners and renters.

Individual Assistance — the FEMA program that can help households with home repairs, temporary housing and other uninsured losses — requires a separate major disaster declaration. Gov. Mike Braun has requested one. Whether it is granted depends on assessment data showing that the damage exceeds what state and local governments can absorb on their own.

That math is built from individual households. A flooded basement that nobody documents is, for the purposes of that calculation, a basement that never flooded.

What the flood did here

The White River crested at roughly 24.56 feet at Noblesville early Saturday, Aug. 15, breaking a record of 23.8 feet that had stood since the Great Flood of March 1913 — 113 years.

County officials have reported roughly 552 residential units affected in Noblesville, with three main impact zones: the Riverwood community north of downtown, the southwest quadrant of downtown along the river, and the area around Federal Hill Commons. Carmel reported about 230 properties affected and 40 residents relocated, including 14 evacuated from a senior living facility. Fishers crews performed swift-water rescues. More than 160 families accepted voluntary evacuation help from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, and more than 60 roads closed at the peak. The Hazel Dell Road bridge between 96th and 106th streets sustained the county’s most significant infrastructure damage.

No deaths were reported in Hamilton County. Statewide, at least seven people died and more than 1,000 were displaced.

Don’t wait for a knock on the door

Officials are emphatic that residents should not treat the assessment teams as the starting gun.

Emergency Management is urging people to begin documenting damage and contact their insurance company now, and to keep photos and other records showing the extent of the flooding and the damage to their property.

One point worth understanding before that call: standard homeowners and renters policies generally do not cover flood damage. Flood coverage is a separate policy, most often written through the National Flood Insurance Program. Many households in the flood’s path will find they have no flood coverage at all — which is precisely the gap the assessment process is trying to measure.

It also helps to know that talking to an assessment team is not an application for aid, and it does not guarantee any individual will receive assistance. It is data collection. Applying for help is a separate step.

Where to get help right now

Assistance is available without waiting on a federal decision:

• Indiana State Disaster Relief Fund — grants for uninsured damage to a primary residence, covering things like certain home repairs, essential furnishings and appliances, debris removal, medical devices and essential transportation. Applications are handled through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security at in.gov/dhs.
• Indiana 211 — call 211 or 866-211-9966 to report damage and get referrals for housing, food and other needs.
• Hamilton County resource center — Exhibition Hall, 2003 Pleasant St., Noblesville. Call 317-645-3261.
• State housing help — emergency hotel vouchers of up to 30 days and disaster rental assistance for deposits and short-term rent.
• SNAP replacement benefits for food lost to flooding or power outages.

Residents who want to help rather than be helped can sign up through Noblesville Serve, and donations are being directed to the Hamilton County Community Foundation.

Anyone whose home or property was damaged should photograph it, keep receipts, and talk to the assessment team when it reaches their street — even if the damage seems minor compared with a neighbor’s.