PALM BAY, FL (The Palm Bayer): If the flood damaged your home or business, the first step is a report. The form is the county’s. Brevard County Emergency Management is collecting damage reports through its CrisisTrack damage self-report form.
Report your damage
The form asks for your property address and ZIP code. It asks for a description of the damage, and photos if you have them. It also asks whether the property is a business, whether you own or rent, and whether you carry homeowner’s, renter’s, or flood insurance. It asks whether you have been displaced, and how many adults and children live in the household.
Before you clean up, document what the water did. Photograph and video all the damage first. Photograph the water lines on walls and flooring. List the damaged furniture, appliances, clothing, and electronics. Save receipts for hotels, supplies, cleanup, and temporary repairs. When it is safe to do so, keep damaged items until your insurer advises otherwise.
Two things about the form matter more than the fields. It is not an application for assistance. Filing it signs you up for nothing, and it promises nothing. And file it even if insurance covers your loss. The form asks about insurance as information. It does not screen insured households out.
File it anyway, because of what the reports do. There is no federal disaster declaration for this flood yet, and no FEMA assistance is open. The state has declared an emergency. Palm Bay has declared its own. A federal declaration can only follow a governor’s request, and the damage assessment is the evidence behind that request. Every report is part of the documented need. Mayor Rob Medina said Tuesday that rescue crews took people out by high water vehicles and SWAT vehicles: “Hundreds of them removed to safety.”
Where help answers
Dial 211. 211 Brevard is serving as the county’s disaster information hotline. It handles disaster information and referrals, and emotional support and post-disaster crisis counseling around the clock. You can also text your ZIP code to 898211.
Be straight with yourself about its limits: financial recovery assistance is still in development, and as of now, no FEMA money is available.
For cleanup help in the house itself, Emergency Management runs the Brevard Volunteer Connection Portal. It connects homeowners with partner volunteer organizations, for free help removing mud, damaged furniture, wet flooring, and damp drywall from flooded homes.
Submit one request per address, with accurate contact information and detail about the damage, so crews can assess and prioritize. Assistance depends on the volunteer resources available, and it is not guaranteed.
What is still in effect
Water. Water service has been restored in the Port Malabar Boulevard NE water main break area, and the Precautionary Boil Water Notice remains in effect. It covers every customer inside the city’s highlighted map area, whether or not their service was interrupted.
Water for drinking, cooking, ice, brushing teeth, and dish water goes to a rolling boil for at least one minute. The notice stays until testing confirms the water is safe and the city rescinds it.
Port Malabar Road. The washout on Port Malabar Road, east of Turkey Creek Sanctuary, is still carried as closed in both directions, with no repair timeline in the record. This is Port Malabar Road, not the Boulevard. The mayor’s estimate of roadway restoration within two weeks covered Port Malabar Boulevard and Fallon Boulevard. It was not said about this road.
Trash. Republic Services suspended all collection on Tuesday, November 3, and no Tuesday makeup day has been issued. Monday, November 2 customers move to Thursday, November 5. If your regular day is today, Wednesday, put carts curbside only if it is safe and your street is not flooded. The city says Republic would assess road conditions early this morning and a delayed start might be necessary. Do not place carts in flooded areas, and do not enter floodwater to move them.
Roads. Roads are still under water this morning. The Palm Bay traffic alerts board holds 26 records: 11 confirmed closures, all official and all in Melbourne, and every Palm Bay record still carried as reported, not confirmed. The newest reports came in from residents before dawn today, water over the road at Maya Place and at JT Sancho, and they are labeled unconfirmed on the board, the way every resident report is until it is checked.
One line from Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins on Tuesday is worth carrying into any drive today: “I’ve done high water rescues. I trained for this when I was in the military, and I’ll tell you, most of the deaths that occur is because someone thought the water was shallow and it was deeper than they thought and they were swept away.” The live board is the list. Check it before you travel.
The two deaths
Two Palm Bay men died in this flood. Joshua Bennett, 34, had gone missing during Monday’s rains. Police confirmed Tuesday that he was located in his truck in a flooded-out part of southeast Palm Bay. Archie Richards, 78, was announced by Mayor Medina at Tuesday’s press conference. No details on Richards’ death were available. Officials said the two men are not related.
Mayor Medina, asked about the manner of the deaths, declined to go beyond water intrusion and left the details for when they come out. “We know it’s from water intrusion and whenever you’re driving in [a] vehicle, you can’t, you can’t tell when the road ends and the ditch begins, so you have to exercise extreme caution,” he said.
Who to call
Streets and drainage. For non-urgent problems, a blocked street, drainage trouble, debris, a washed-out shoulder, use the service request form on the city’s website first. It opens a tracked ticket and keeps the phone lines clear. Urgent hazards: Public Works customer service, 321-952-3437. Daytime reporting hotline: 321-952-3438.
Water. Water service and boil water questions: Palm Bay Utilities, 321-952-3420. Water or sewer emergency: 321-952-3478.
City information. Palm Bay Citizen Information Hotline: 321-726-5683. City Hall main line: 321-952-3400.
Trash. Pickup questions: Republic Services, 321-989-6030. Billing and start or stop questions: Utilities, 321-952-3420.
Power. Outages and downed lines: FPL, 1-800-468-8243.
Police. Non-emergency: 321-952-3456. Emergencies: 911.
County. Disaster information and referrals: 211 Brevard, by dialing 211 or texting your ZIP code to 898211. Brevard County Emergency Management: 321-637-6670. Sign up for AlertBrevard at brevardfl.gov, or text BREVARDEOC to 888777 for county text alerts.
Insurance and prices. Florida’s consumer insurance helpline: 1-877-693-5236, weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM. Report price gouging to the Florida Attorney General: 1-866-966-7226.
This story is also published at The Palm Bayer.
