Rapidly receding floodwaters now expose damaged or destroyed houses in Iowa where four Howard County certified building inspectors will help in the recovery process.
The inspectors are being sent to Wapello, an area south of Cedar Rapids, a heavily hit area, on a trip expected to last 17 days, with 14 days of work.
“First, we?re going to determine if the buildings are habitable,” said Bob Frances, chairman of the county?s Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits.
“Any building judged to be habitable is one less person you have to find a house for.”
Initially, the inspectors will judge whether residents can immediately return to their houses by determining the houses? structural stability.
“Moving water is an incredible force,” Frances said.
In the long-term process, the inspectors will decide whether the damaged buildings can be repaired or are a total loss, he added.
Inspectors Ed Ackerman, Kenneth Brown and Dave Baer will be led by Sean Kelly, the department?s chief of inspections and enforcement.
Howard is the only county in the state sending building inspectors, and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for all expenses, said Kevin Enright, the county spokesman.
The inspectors couldn?t be reached for comment because they were bound for Iowa.
Each inspector was inoculated before leaving Wednesday because of potential contaminants in the water, Frances said.
The Iowa National Guard?s Civil Supports Team has helped identify and secure more than 130 hazardous substances from the floodwaters in unmarked containers, gas cans, barrels and thousand-gallon chemical tanks, according to the Department of Defense.
Iowa officials had reached out to MEMA for help through a state-to-state Emergency Management Assistance Compact requesting International Code Council certified building inspectors.
Louisa County, the county the Howard inspectors will be visiting, was experiencing a shortage of inspectors.
The trip is similar to a few years ago when states such as Louisiana were requested fire and rescue personnel from other states, including Maryland, to help with post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup.
“But this time, it?s a specific case for specific needs,” Frances said.
