A FEMA housing inspection for renters is used to assess personal property loss and for owners to assess damage to their home as well as personal property. This inspection is done to determine eligibility for FEMA Individual Assistance. For both rental and owner inspections, if the property has flood damage the inspector measures the height of the flooding. They indicate the highest floor of the flooding (for example, Basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, etc) and the height of the flooding in that room. In addition for the units without flooding, HUD has estimated minor/major/severe damage based on the damage inspection estimates for real property (owner) and personal property (renter).

This file only presents data on block groups with 10 or more damaged housing units. The suppression to only including 10 or more damaged housing units results in an exclusion of about 6% of the total flooded units. These data are as of January 17, 2013 and reflect Hurricane Sandy damage in the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. These data are incomplete, as each day there are additional registrants and inspections. This should be a viewed as a preliminary snapshot to assist with planning.