Rapid Needs Assessment

Neighborhood Assessment following a major incident.Lamorinda Law, Fire, CERT, HOA and Radio

February 10, 2014

Good incident information drives good decision making.

The ability of local governments to perform a Rapid Needs Assessment accurately and within the first few hours after an incident or emergency is critical to providing a response designed to save lives and support life sustaining actions.

FEMA G557

Objectives

Our objectives during this presentation are to:• Understand the need for assessments• Determine what data is needed• Determine how the data is obtained• Learn to use the new form and the process to

transfer the data to where it is needed

Assessment Phases

Assessment is Accomplished in 3 Phases

1. Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA) takes place during or immediately after the event and focuses on lifesaving needs, imminent hazards, critical lifelines and available resources.

2. Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) identifies and affixes a dollar value to damages.

3. Combined Verification includes a detailed inspection of damages to individual sites.

Community Hazards

What hazards do we face in the Lamorinda area?• Earthquake• Wildfire• Flood• Hostage / Shooting• Hazardous Materials Spill• BART issue• Others?

Why is Damage Assessment Important?• First Step to Recovery!• Assists in identifying life safety issues.• Assists in identifying resources needed, i.e.

manpower, equipment, supplies.• Assists in identifying available resources.• Gives information to those that need to plan,

coordinate, and act on the incident.• Provides an accurate account and extent of the

emergency by providing information in a standardized manner.

Who can do it?

Community partners:• are “distributed” in a community.• have an ability to communicate independent of

normal communications methods.• have a rapid response capability.• can readily adapt.• are available to participate.• are strongest during overnight hours when Law

Enforcement is weakest.

What are First Responders doing?• Law Enforcement officers will be overwhelmed and on

their own. Mutual Aid resources will be hours or days away. They will concentrate on major incidents.• MOFD Fire crews will begin with pre-assigned major

route “Windshield Surveys” with instructions to “Do not stop driving to engage in operations” except “only stop to extinguish small fires that may lead to conflagration” and perform “light rescue”.• One MOFD ambulance crew will be reserved to provide

medical care to first responders.• ConFire crews will wait outside their stations for

dispatch by Battalion Chiefs.

The “Windshield Survey”

A visual inspection of an area or specific object (a neighborhood, a house, a bridge for example) in a rapid fashion frequently done from a vehicle through the “windshield”.

The FormRapid Needs Assessment form, Rev. 02/05/2014

2/10/2014 Ann Smith 212-1234ü

1

2/10/2014 Ann Smith 212-1234ü

1

Lafayette 17-C

1415 620 N Silverado Dr S S S O B Tree down across road

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1415 622 S S S O 2 Roof hole, side wall, O2 needed

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2/10/2014 Ann Smith 212-1234ü

1

Lafayette 17-C

1415 620 N Silverado Dr S S S O B Tree down across road

ü ü

1415 622 S S S O 2 Roof hole, side wall, O2 needed

ü ü

1420 623 S O S O 1 1 4 2 nd flr collapse, red trapped in bedroom

ü1425 624 S S S O

1427 625 S S S O

1430 627 S S S O

ü

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1435 N37 52.25052 W122 5.96628

Strong gas smell, pipeline?L

2/10/2014 Ann Smith 212-1234ü

1

Lafayette 17-C

1415 620 N Silverado Dr S S S O B Tree down across road

ü ü

1415 622 S S S O 2 Roof hole, side wall, O2 needed

ü ü

1420 623 S O S O 1 1 4 2 nd flr collapse, red trapped in bedroom

ü1425 624 S S S O

1427 625 S S S O

1430 627 S S S O

ü

üü

1435 N37 52.25052 W122 5.96628

Strong gas smell, pipeline?L

14:40 Fred Blake 284-7025 1

The Form DetailsCommon terminology for describing damage

The 4 Degrees of Damage

•Affected•Minor Damage•Major Damage•Destroyed

Affected

The house has a tree on it. The roof is intact, the windows appear ok, and the house looks very livable. This residence is “affected”.

Affected

Masonry building with exposed cracks. Building my have additional damage but on the outside, it appears mostly normal and likely functional.

Affected

Less than 2” of water on floor. Foundation intact. No obvious structural damage.

Affected

This category includes dwellings with minimal damage to structure and/or contents and the home is habitable without repairs.

Minor Damage

The house has a tree on it. The roof is damaged, but only one area of the residence is affected. It’s repairable. Damage limited to 1 wall or roof.

Minor Damage

Partial wall collapse but clearly repairable. Not a complete wall failure; building probably needs further technical inspection.

Minor Damage

No Basement. Less than 1’ of water in residence.

Minor Damage

Minor damage encompasses a wide range of damage and is generally the most common type of damage. Minor damage exists when the home is damaged and uninhabitable or only partially habitable, but may be made habitable in a short period of time with home repairs. Some of the items that determine minor damage are listed below: • Will require less than 30 days to repair. • Windows or doors blown in. • One foot or more of water/sewer backup in basement (i.e.,

furnace, water heater damage). • Has less than 50% damage to structure.

Major Damage

The house has a tree that went through the roof to the ground. Multiple walls damaged. Heavy damage, may not be re-buildable.

Major Damage

Soft story failure in Santa Cruz mountains from Loma Prieta earthquake. The building could be repaired after the building was jacked back to a plumb condition. Many such red-tagged buildings can be repaired rather than demolished

Major Damage

2 to 5 feet of water on the first floor. Potential for major damage in the structure.

Major Damage

Major damage exists when the home has sustained structural or significant damages, is uninhabitable and requires extensive repairs. Any one of the following may constitute major damage. • Substantial failure of structural elements of the

residence (e.g., walls, roof, floors, foundation, etc.). • Has more than 50% damage to structure. • Will require more than 30 days to repair.• One foot or more of water on the first floor (of a home

with basement).

Examples of Major Damage IndicatorsEarthquake

Damage may include failure of one or more of the following: stucco siding, in combination with failures to structural elements, such as chimney, roof, buckling of walls, foundation, broken windows, racking of structure, masonry and mortar failures, and plaster cracks. Failure of non-visual “in-ground” items could be commonplace and further exploration may be required (e.g., water, sewer, and gas lines, wells and septic systems, foundations). (Assumption: residence is a typical post-WW II, California home with stucco siding.)

Fire

Any one of, or a combination of, the following could constitute major fire damage: severe smoke damage, fire damage to residence (e.g., roof, exterior siding, windows, and doors) water and/or fire-suppressant chemical damage, imminent danger from ground-cover loss. (Assumption: damage is to a standard ranch home.)

Examples of Major Damage IndicatorsMudslide/Earth movement

Any sign of earth movement that may affect the residence. (Note: there may be times when a hill shows signs of movement ¼ mile above a group of homes that are not (yet) damaged but all will be recorded as being in “imminent danger.” Other damage may include failures to structural elements of the dwelling walls, floors, or foundations.) (Assumption: typical ranch home built on or near a hillside.)

Flood

If a house with a basement had more than 1 foot of water on the first floor, it ordinarily would have suffered Major damage, especially if the furnace and water heater are located in the basement. Without a basement, the threshold for Major damage would be in the 2 to 4 foot range, depending on length of time the home was inundated, home construction, and sediment content of the flood water. In most cases, 2 feet of water will require replacement of a 4 foot perimeter of sheetrock due to insulation wicking. With 4 feet of water there will most likely be a 6 foot cut of sheetrock required, if not full replacement. Two feet or more of water on the first floor also affects all appliances, lower cabinets, etc. (assumption: typical ranch home, quick rising and falling water levels, without velocity or chemical factors.)

Destroyed

‘nuff said.

Destroyed

Greater than 5’ of water.

Destroyed

Destroyed means the structure is a total loss or damaged to such an extent that repairs are not economically feasible. Any one of the following may constitute a status of destroyed: • Structure is not economically feasible to repair. • Structure is permanently uninhabitable. • Complete failure of major structural components (e.g., collapse of

basement walls/foundation, walls, or roof). • Only foundation remains. • Two or more walls destroyed and roof substantially damaged. • House pushed off foundation • An unaffected structure that will require removal or demolition (e.g.,

homes in imminent danger due to impending landslides, mudslides, or sinkholes; beachfront homes that must be removed due to local ordinance violations as a result of beach erosion).

Inaccessible

This group includes homes that are inaccessible by normal means, due to disaster-related road closures (e.g., bridge out, road flooded or blocked by landslide, mudslide, severe erosion, washed out, etc.).

Photos of Damage

• If you take photos of damage:• Take first photo of curb painted street address, if

possible• If no address, use GPS location from your cell

phone• Turn on Geo-tagging for photos or• Google Earth or other App• Mark it on paper for 1st photo

• Avoid photographing people

Other things to watch for:

• Collapse of a major non-critical structure • Significant damage to residential areas • Major road blockage • Serious infrastructure damage • Looting • Large groups of stranded or uninhabited citizens

Reporting Areas

• Lafayette is currently divided into 17 Evacuation Zones.• Each Zone will be sub-divided into

Reporting Areas•Orinda and Moraga will follow suit

Reporting Areas

Reporting Areas

Number of Occupants Square Feet per expected occupant

• Schools 50 to 100 • Hospitals 50 to 200• Multi-residential 100 to 300• Commercial 50 to 200• Office building 100 to 200• Public assembly 10 to 50• Public safety 100 to 200• Industrial 100 to 300• Warehouse 400 to 900

Other methods to Estimate

• Number of Cars in Parking Lot• Assembly occupancies• Low Rise Office & Light Industrial Bldgs• Low Rise Commercial - Shopping Malls

• Number of Bedrooms• Multi-unit Housing