Federal and state officials will assess Gwinnett’s Irma damage

Federal and state officials will visit Gwinnett County on Wednesday to assess local damage from Tropical Storm Irma, Gwinnett's emergency management director said.

The assessment will be key to determining if individual residents and property owners will qualify to apply for federal assistance money.

In a Tuesday morning briefing before the county’s Board of Commissioners, Gwinnett EMA director Greg Swanson said about 200 structures were damaged when Irma moved through last week. Of those, local officials believe about 158  “are substantially damaged enough to warrant state and federal assessments,” Swanson said.

Such assessments were scheduled to be completed Wednesday by representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Swanson said. And if the damage is considered significant enough, a new declaration could be issued to clear the way for affected individuals to apply for financial assistance.

A separate declaration has already been made to allow Gwinnett County, as a government entity, to apply for the reimbursement of costs associated with some recovery and cleanup efforts.

Hundreds of trees and power lines were knocked down during the height of Irma's assault on Gwinnett and the rest of metro Atlanta.