Commonwealth of Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia

Disaster Response Services

July 2006 – Present

James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA) is currently under contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide disaster response standby services. These services provide Commonwealth agencies and local municipalities assistance in navigating FEMA's Public Assistance program during the recovery period following a federally-declared disaster.

Acting as a liaison between applicants and FEMA, JLWA provides assistance that includes comprehensive training and education, on issues such as how to conduct preliminary damage assessments and how the Public Assistance program works.

After a disaster occurs, JLWA assists in the recovery efforts in three vital ways: first, by providing grant management support; second, by offering technical assistance on the rules and requirements to Public Assistance applicants; and third, by aiding with project identification and scoping. JLWA also represents the best interests of both Virginia and program applicants when representing them before FEMA. This includes resolving differences related to damage inspection, project scope definition and insurance oversight.

Immediately upon signing the contract with the Commonwealth in 2006, JLWA was activated to perform these services after back-to-back disasters, one for severe storms causing flooding in southwest Virginia, and the other associated with Hurricane Ernesto, which impacted eastern portions of the Commonwealth.

JLWA quickly mobilized a 22-person workforce that rotated between Richmond and the flood-damaged southwest Virginia counties. This highly efficient team helped identify and document damages and maximize available resources from the federal government to support recovery. During the ten-month period that JLWA was involved, tens of millions of dollars was recovered for the City of Richmond (the most heavily impacted jurisdiction) as well as for dozens of other applicants who were initially deemed ineligible for federal funding by FEMA.

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