Napa Valley Earthquake – Scott A. Mommer, PE assists with Building Inspections
The recent earthquake in Napa Valley, with a magnitude of 6.0, caused much devastation and destruction to the people and businesses of the area. Scott A. Mommer, PE of Lars Andersen & Associates, Inc. was one of the many California Emergency Response volunteers to be called to the area for inspections of homes and businesses that had been damaged by the earthquake. The City estimated over $300 million dollars in damages to buildings, infrastructure, and overall economic losses. Napa Valley has one of the most well-known wine and agriculture industries around and suffered an estimate of $48 million dollars in damages.
Scott A. Mommer, PE assisted with many other Engineers and Building Inspectors to review the extent of damages done to the many buildings and homes. The process of this was to examine various buildings in the City of Vallejo and make assessments on evaluating the buildings for their structural integrity. The buildings that were evaluated were tagged with a RED, YELLOW, OR GREEN notice. The color of the notice was dependent on the type of damages and how stability of the building; or in many cases, Fire Place Chimneys. A RED-tagged building meant the building needed to be evacuated and entry was not permitted, a YELLOW-tagged building could be entered with restrictions to certain areas of the building or surrounding perimeter, and a GREEN-tagged building permitted full occupancy and use of the building without restrictions.
Further information on the earthquake and the community’s recovery can be viewed at http://www.cityofnapa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1869&Itemid=923.
Further information on Lars Andersen & Associates,Inc. can viewed at http://www.larsandersen.com/.
