As flood waters continue to recede across the state, Knoxville and Knox County Emergency Management crews say they've completed a damage assessment across the county.
Knoxville/Knox County EMA director Colin Ickes said they completed assessments of 1183 homes and businesses in Knox County that said they had been impacted in some way by flooding.
He broke down their findings per FEMA criteria:
- 39 – No Damage Found
- 778 – Affected
- 223 – Minor Damage
- 109 – Major Damage
- 34 – Destroyed (includes 14 businesses in one strip mall)
Ickes said based on appraised property values, flooding caused nearly $32.5 million in estimated property damages to businesses and homes, and that doesn't include damage to anything inside those properties like belongings.
On top of that, public sector damage and response costs, including the city and county government and utilities, are estimated to be around $11 million.
""In terms of dollars, it’s the worst that we’ve seen and that we have records of," said Ickes. "It’s certainly done a lot of damage to our community and hurt a lot of people. So we’re doing everything we can to make the best case for a disaster declaration."
The numbers come as Gov. Bill Lee announced he signed an executive order to further flood recovery efforts and begin the process of engaging the federal government for funding and other resources.
►READ MORE: Gov. Lee signs order to enable flooding recovery efforts, FEMA to conduct damage assessments
FEMA will be conducting their damage assessments in dozens of Tennessee counties, including Knox County, starting next week. Knox County is one of six in the state so far that FEMA will conduct assessments for the federal Individual Assistance program.
For businesses impacted by the flooding, the water may have receded, but the impact still lingers.
Yarn Haven in West Knoxville says they lost more than $35,000.