(Jan. 27, 2010 – 3:14 p.m.) The State of Arizona today activated the State Emergency Call Center in support of affected counties across the state, and to help facilitate the recovery process.

The State urges citizens with questions about the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) process and reports of disaster-related damage to call the State Emergency Call Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and on weekends. The statewide phone number is 1-877-464-1144.

“We want the public to write down and to use the 877-464-1144 number,” said Lou Trammell, Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) Director. “Public input gives us a better sense of the severity and scope of the local impact. The information provided by callers is important to the Major Disaster Declaration request process. It is used to determine State eligibility for federal assistance.”

Arizona will pursue a Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance. The request for a Major Disaster Declaration is sent to the President from the Governor, and reliant on information from Individual Assistance and Public Assistance PDA Teams. Additional teams will be dispatched to different parts of the State throughout the week.

PDA teams were in Black Canyon City, Yavapai County, and Wenden in La Paz County yesterday to denote Individual Assistance damages to residential and commercial properties. Public Assistance teams evaluate damage and estimate costs to public infrastructure in seven categories and have likewise been deployed.

A Major Disaster Declaration is different from the Emergency Declaration that was approved in support of Operation Winter Storm. Operation Winter Storm covers 20,000 to 26,000 square miles of Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation lands within Apache, Coconino and Navajo counties.

The State Incident Management Team in Holbrook is coordinating the delivery of resources, including 8,620 meals, 15,000 gallons of water, 20 tons of coal and 600 Red Cross blankets.

Visit the Arizona Emergency Information Network website, www.azein.gov, for incident information, including links to the recovery resources. Visitors can also find detailed steps on how to get all-hazard ready.

(Source: Arizona Division of Emergency Management)