Preparing Your Home & Property for the Next Earthquake

1. Preparing Your Home & Property for the Next Earthquake Sean OMara, Department of Emergency Management Ron Tom/Mike Mitchell, Department of Building Inspection May 11, 2015 1 S VanNess Avenue, 2nd Floor Atrium Conference Room

2. Agenda • Overview of DEM & DBI • Disaster Cycle and Your Role • Mitigate • Prepare • Respond • Recover • Q & A

3. The Disaster Cycle MITIGATE RECOVER PREPARE CITY & DBI’s ROLE RESPOND

4. Department of Emergency Management (DEM) We manage everyday and not-so-every day emergencies in San Francisco: • Emergency Services: We help San Francisco prepared for any emergency and we coordinate response and recovery. • Emergency Communications (9-1-1): When people in San Francisco have police, fire, or medical emergency our dispatchers are the first people they call. • Homeland Security Grant Management: We manage homeland security priorities for the San Francisco Bay Area.

5. What does DEM do? We manage everyday and not-so-every day emergencies in San Francisco: • Emergency Services: We help San Francisco prepared for any emergency and we coordinate response and recovery. • Emergency Communications (9-1-1): When people in San Francisco have police, fire, or medical emergency our dispatchers are the first people they call. • Homeland Security Grant Management: We manage homeland security priorities for the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco’s Emergency Communications Center (9-1-1) answers more than 1.1 million calls per year.

6. What does DEM do? We manage everyday and not-so-every day emergencies in San Francisco: • Emergency Services: We help San Francisco prepared for any emergency and we coordinate response and recovery. • Emergency Communications (9-1-1): When people in San Francisco have police, fire, or medical emergency our dispatchers are the first people they call. • Homeland Security Grant Management: We manage homeland security priorities for the San Francisco Bay Area. BA UASI includes 12 regional governments and more than 100 cities with 7.5 million people.

7. Whole Community Emergency Plans Continuity of Government Risk Awareness Response Coordination Personal preparedness Neighborhood preparedness School preparedness Continuity of Operations Community Involvement Insurance

8. Department of Building Inspection (DBI) Emergency Preparedness Coordination • DBI Emergency Operations Plan • Conduct training as Disaster Service Workers • Specialized training for Safety Assessment Program • Building Occupancy Resumption Program (BORP)

9. Mitigation: DBI’s Programs • Programs • Parapet Safety Program (1972) • Unreinforced Masonry (1989) • Buildings Program (1992) • Soft Story Retrofit Program (2014) • Voluntary seismic retrofit

10. Mitigation: Building Occupancy Resumption Program (BORP) • Allows building owners to arrange for private post-earthquake inspection • Requires contracting with qualified engineers • Includes a building-specific inspection plan • Deputizes engineers to post buildings after quake

11. 72 HOURS In a serious emergency, city services will be impacted, so a basic rule of thumb is to be able to take care of each other for 72 hours before help arrives.

12. What You Can Do to Prepare

13. What You Can Do to Prepare • Discuss all possible exit routes from each room, building and neighborhood • Decide where you will reunite after a disaster. • Conduct emergency drills and practice “DROP, COVER and HOLD” • Always keep your car’s gas tank at least half full

14. Preparedness: Property Owner • How can I prepare my property? • Owner hires a civil or structural engineer to develop a plan/report identifying how occupants can safely enter the building to remove their possessions. • Owner hires contractor whose staff retrieve possessions for the tenants.

15. Structural Home/Building Preparedness • Evaluate your structure • Underlying soil conditions • Age and type of construction • Structural /connection condition • Remodeling impact • Investigate retrofit options • Compare retrofit costs with insurance premiums

16. Bolt Sill to FoundationUsing Square Plate Washers • Square plate washers perform better in quakes than the round one that has been replaced here. • They also make the tightening of expansion bolts easier. Plate washers must be a minimum of 2” x 2” x 3/16” thick

17. First Floor Crawl Space Cripple Wall Strengthen Cripple Walls • A cripple wall is generally the weakest part of older building because it has insufficiently strong sheathing materials. • This can cause full or partial collapse in an earthquake. • These areas can be strengthened for relatively low cost by correctly applying plywood sheathing to the cripple walls.

18. Non-Structural Mitigation • Parapets • Chimneys • Water heaters • Light fixtures • Furniture • Cabinets • Appliances • Electronics

19. Preparing Your Home: Water Heater • Earthquake strapping of water heaters • California law requires your water heater be properly braced so it won’t tip over in an earthquake • Source of water during emergency

20. Preparing Your Home: Smoke Alarms • Be sure your home’s street number is visible from the street, so emergency vehicles can find you. • Install a smoke alarm in each sleeping room • Provide a smoke alarm outside of each sleeping area • Install a smoke alarm on each additional living level. • Keep at least one ABC type fire extinguisher on each level of your home.

21. Response: City/At-LargeEarly Stages • Evacuating/extracting people from buildings • Route recovery/traffic control • Mitigation of immediate public hazards • Restoration of critical services • Lighting of field work sites • Debris clearance • Inspection of critical facilities

22. DBI’s Response • Coordinate with DPW for inspection of critical facilities and City buildings • Supervise inspection of private buildings • Verify red-tagged building status • Re-inspect buildings under construction • Issue emergency repair permits • Inspect earthquake building repairs • 72 hour window

23. DBI Manages Safety Assessment

24. Resident’s Response • Listen to public messaging (KCBS/KGO radio) • If safe to do so, stay at property • Check in with neighbors • Call 911 only for emergencies • Carry out preparedness plan

25. Utilities: Natural Gas Train family to turn off utilities, if necessary Teach children to identify the smell of gas Turn off gas, if: • you smell leaks & are unsure • your meter wheels are spinning Be aware that you may not have service for weeks

26. Utilities: Electricity Turn off electricity, if: • you smell gas leaks • wires are broken • walls are badly damaged

27. Turn circuit breakers to OFFposition

28. Or pull fuses

29. Utilities: Water Turn off water ifhouse is flooding or if water is contaminated Shut Off Water, If Necessary • Locate water shutoff • Insert tool in hole & remove cover • Turn water OFF

30. Road to Recovery • Rapid organized response by DBI to conduct building damage assessment post event • Request for Mutual Aid to augment DBI personnel as approved by the Mayor • Timely processing of repair permits • DBI inspection of damage repairs • Swift resumption of new construction plan review and inspection

31. Drill with your family at least once a year; earthquake anniversaries are good reminders Maintain first aid and other emergency skills Check family emergency supplies, replenish them as needed Remind Yourself

32. Visit Us Online • www.alertsf.org • www.sfdbi.org/earthquake-preparedness • www.sfdbi.org/softstory • www.sf72.org • www.sf-fire.org • www.sfgov.org/sffdnert • www.businessportal.sfgov.org • www.redcrossbayarea.org • www.sfsafe.org