State, federal and county teams will check damage from severe storms and flooding in six southwest Colorado counties from Tuesday through Thursday. The counties are Archuleta, Conejos, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma and Rio Grande.

The checks are called Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments. They are the first step the state must take to decide whether the governor can ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a major disaster declaration.

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The storms and flooding happened in October and November. Officials will visit sites in person to confirm the damage.

The teams include people from each county and the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. They also include staff from the U.S. Small Business Administration and FEMA. A member of United Way's 211 team will join the teams that look at damage to people and homes.

Each county will have several teams. One team will focus on FEMA's Individual Assistance program. A second team will support Public Assistance checks. All teams will work Tuesday through Thursday. Team members will wear their official agency logos so residents can identify them.

The Individual Assistance checks will look at the type and extent of damage to people and their primary homes. Teams will also look at insurance coverage, local economic impact and other factors.

If requested and approved, the Individual Assistance program helps people and households with uninsured damage to primary homes and property. The damage must have happened during the incident period.

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The State of Colorado has been working with the affected counties and residents to fully assess the damage. FEMA confirms the information and paperwork. The state will then use the confirmed information to decide whether the governor will ask for a major disaster declaration.

The Public Assistance checks will identify and confirm the costs of damage to public infrastructure. If requested and approved, this program pays government agencies and certain private nonprofit groups to repair or replace damaged public infrastructure. It also covers emergency actions taken to protect lives and property.

If a major disaster declaration is made, it will name the areas that can get help and the type of help available.

More information on the disaster declaration process is available at https://mars.colorado.gov/recovery/disaster-information-hub/presidential-disaster-declaration-process. Details on FEMA's programs are at https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual and https://www.fema.gov/assistance/public.

There is no set timeline for the federal government to approve or deny requests for presidential disaster declarations.