INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- The leader of Indiana's emergency management agency said Hoosiers should help each other out and be patient as the state's storm recovery begins.State officials are putting the finishing touches on a forma l application for a major disaster declaration following last week's storms that led to widespread wind damage and power outages in northwest Indiana and record flooding in central Indiana.The death toll from those storms sits at seven. Some 250 buildings were damaged from flooding in Cambridge City alone. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 38,000 customers were still without power in Lake County as of Friday morning, nearly two weeks after the storms. Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen has estimated his city alone sustained at least $10 million in damage.In an interview for All INdiana Politics, Jonathan Whither, the executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, said federal disaster aid to individuals is not yet available because the state still has to submit its application to the federal government and FEMA officials have to review the application and decide whether to approve it. He said flood survivors should focus for now on cleaning out their homes and salvaging whatever belongings they can."We've got to get stuff out, get it sorted so that it can be taken away, and we want to get those homes cleaned up so that we can get families back in as quickly as possible," he said.Whither said homeowners need to talk to their insurers now, if they haven't already, and carefully document everything. He said homeowners should take lots of pictures and keep all of the receipts for any work done. He said this will make it easier to get approved for federal disaster reimbursements later on if FEMA declares a major disaster.The Indiana Department of Homeland Security includes the offices of emergency management and the state fire marshal.Whither said although Indiana Task Force 1 was not formally activated, many of its members ended up responding in small groups, often as members of their primary fire departments.Whither also addressed the ongoing power outages in northwest Indiana. He said the large trees the storm blew down in the Region created very large amounts of debris that had to be cleared. Whither said utility workers at this point have to go into individual backyards to reconnect the power. He said IDHS has teams on the ground in the Region assessing needs there as well as in central Indiana.All INdiana Politics airs at 11 p.m. Sunday on WRTV. ...read more read less