The South Napa Quake AUGUST 24, 2014

August 24, 2014 @ 3:20 a.m. 6.0 magnitude - largest quake in the Bay Area since 1989 Epicenter 5 miles S/SW of the City of Napa, on the West Napa Fault, 7 miles below Napa Valley Marina Surface fractures indicate underlying faults, as of 8/26. (USGS)

283 injuries reported Countywide 234 patients treated at Queen of the Valley Medical Center, 12 at St. Helena Hospital 18 admitted, 4 in critical condition at QVMC 1 fatality

ABC 7 News photo

Many injuries occurred hours after the quake during cleanup

South Napa Earthquake Overview

South Napa Earthquake on West Napa Fault

 Fault line was not identified  Rupture along or through more than two dozen homes  Currently fastest slip on strike/slip fault in the world  Greatest slip identified has been 18 inches  Ground shaking of 0.8 g

Immediately evident damage to roadways, water lines, buildings…

Hwy 12/121 in Carneros PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER DASILVA, EPA

Goodman Library, First Street

Hotel guests were displaced due to some Napa hotels being evacuated due to damages

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Three structure fires were caused by broken gas lines – the worst at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park on Orchard Ave – broken water lines led to 6 destroyed homes

Napa Valley Register photos

Napa City and County opened Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) around 6:00 a.m.

City of Napa EOC at Police Department Building

Napa County EOC relocated at the Sheriff’s Office

When the sun came up, the extent of the damage was more apparent…

Old Sonoma Road Napa Valley register photo Old Town, City of Napa Meg Ragan

All photos taken by San Francisco Chronicle

Hardest hit areas West side of town in Browns Valley and Westwood Older buildings Downtown and Old Town

Browns Valley residential area

First United Methodist Church, Old Town, City of Napa

As of end of October, 163 structures remained red tagged, with more than 1,700 yellow tagged.

Bay Area News Group photo

FEMA photo

Napa Valley Register photos

Downtown Historic Post Office

Noah Berger/AP

Approximately half a billion dollars in economic damages.

Historic Courthouse

Early estimates of wine industry losses at an estimated at $80.3 million

Starmont Winery SF Chronicle photo

Trefethen Winery Trefethen Winery website

Val’s Liquors Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

14 County Buildings Damaged 400+ Employees Relocated

Water Facilities  240 leaks (120 in first few days)  No damage to Treatment Plants, Pump Stations

or Dams  No immediate damage to Transmission Lines (4 leaks occurred in weeks after event)  Only 1 of 12 Storage Tanks Damaged  Approx. 1,500 services effected (only 6% of system) in first week.

Water Facilities

CalWARN Crews Excavate and Fix Leaks

• Boil water advisory due to loss in pressure • Day by day number of leaks increased • Order repair materials • Logistics of work shifts/meals/rest • USA delayed repairs • CalWARN crews arrive

Mutual Aid Flushing, Traffic Control, Prep Work

Napa Crews Coordinate, Sample, Valves, Parts Contractors Backfill

Establish the “Dance”

Debris Management 7,400 tons total 187 tons of e-waste (mostly flat screens)

Building Damage Assessment  Building Department responsible for damage assessment  Trained building inspectors arrive in Napa to help  Up to 60 inspectors a day in field  Approximately 20,000 structures to be viewed  165 red tag  1700+ yellow tags

FEMA, FEMA, FEMA  Public Assistance  Initial Damage Assessments and Site Visits  Presidential Declaration  Then Federal Process—Years of Work Ahead  Individual Assistance  Private Property Visits  Then Another and Another and Another  Tours with Elected Officials from Local, State and Federal  Finally Presidential Declaration

Napa Local Assistance Center

Napa LAC Goals  Provide the community with a Local Assistance Center to serve all    

earthquake related needs Provide clear communication to public and partners Enhance communication and coordination between the City and County Maximize reimbursement efforts through the cooperation of city/county partnerships Achieve social and economic stabilization through recovery efforts as soon as possible

Napa LAC Timeline

 8,170 in person visits  English ~70%/Spanish ~30%  2,401 phone calls

 42 Partner Agencies  200 + staff (including 55 volunteers)

Napa LAC Top FAQs 1. Where is FEMA? / How do I get FEMA assistance? 2. Are there other forms of grants/aid? 3. Are there resources for temporary housing? 4. How do I start the repairs on my tagged home?

Challenges & Lessons Learned  Location – be creative; utilize local brokers and economic development

professionals  Consistent staffing & management 

Challenging with temporary/volunteers

 Mental health counselors  Crisis training for staff  Partner coordination  Bilingual staffing  Signage – order ASAP  Establish a “command center” – for partner assistance & meeting space(s)

Overall, what went well, what could have worked better

The “

+”

 Staff reported to work without being called  Lots of mutual aid – need agreements in advance  Media was handled well - regular press conferences, consistent message  Safety inspections were quick and efficient  Interactive map with building tag locations and water breaks  Good decisions were made in the field focused on calming citizens and

returning to normalcy  Continuity of government was not interrupted by emergency  Response from utilities (PG&E) was incredible

PIO Response: Three PIO staff in command center and up to five in call center  

 

First messaging 4:11am (2+ hours before first EOC briefing) Methods includes website, media list, Twitter, Facebook, Nextdoor, Nixle, press conferences Public concerns focused on water loss, gas leaks, debris, relief/assistance Media coverage was extensive from 8 hours after the quake for 7-10 days

If you have it, they will come…

The  Establish fully equipped backup EOC and dispatch center  Store MREs and bottled water  Centralize call center sooner  

Don’t use answering machines Set up call centers for service requests, rumor control, volunteer opportunities

 Establish appropriate role for elected officials in advance and train accordingly 

Expect VIP visits and prepare resources to support those requests

 Recruit and train volunteers in advance – have volunteer agency rep in EOC  Command staff should be seen in the field at times  Plan for scenarios with no mutual aid  Make sure other agencies are aware of our actions, e.g. disposal sites

The  Prepare for robust monitoring of all media  Consider staging area for media sooner  More emergency ops training and certs. for all employees is needed  Debris collection sites should have been pre-determined  Red and yellow tags  Tags mean different things to different people (City definition vs. FEMA definition)  Tags need to cite municipal code sections  A centralized database should be created immediately to track inspections  Photos should be taken each time a tag is posted  Tags need to include “what to do now” information for property owners/residents  Police need instruction on how and when to remove people from red tagged structures

What went well for the City OVERALL  Good timing. Tip: Have quakes at night  Staff and resources were available  Localized mutual aid  Neighbors helping neighbors –

displaced persons did not overwhelm capacity  Finding opportunities to encourage better preparedness immediately  Positive messaging/focus

Surprises and Learning Opportunities  Quakes are a Napa thing! (Two in 15 years) And a 6.0 is not “major”  Most training is focused on emergency response – most problems occur

during recovery  

Training regarding FEMA standards and process is essential. Field teams need to understand need to document damage as well as safety assessment

 Earthquakes aren’t like fires and flood disasters, declaration is difficult  Emergency declarations can be a very political determination  Keep Federal reps informed and involved

Surprises and Learning (cont.)  People start asking about FEMA very quickly  Seismic retrofits worked but they are not well understood  Water damage from chiller lines and sprinklers caused major damage  People want and expect government support in emergencies  Tremendous generosity and cooperation during and immediately after crisis  Napa is a well-behaved place. Lots of broken shop windows and almost

no one took advantage.  When the big one comes, the mutual aid will not be available and neither will staff

FUN with FEMA RECOVERY

is 10x more work than the Disaster

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You need LOTS of DOCUMENTATION

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Be prepared to invest significant staff time

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Recognize that FEMA has rules to follow and you won’t like some of them

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FEMA is only the first step, need to do work and get paid (OES) and get audited (OIG)

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Work together – they have $ you need

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DOCUMENT everything from the start

Some things we didn’t talk about… • AT&T facility in downtown Napa was damaged • All our centralized 911 calls go through this facility • Facility had no electric power and the damage also took their generator out • When batteries died on backup system, 911 service would have been cut off • Mobile homes are under HCD jurisdiction • HCD was about to red tag 800 units with no housing plan • County Jail damage meant relocation and continued safety concerns

#NapaStrong

#NapaStrong

Questions ???