financialpost.org – financial news

EARTHQUAKE RETROFIT GRANTS AND LOANS PROGRAM

Current Program
The department’s Earthquake Retrofit Grant Program has received well deserved national attention from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services,Seismic Safety Commission,as well as the states of Washington,Hawaii,and Nevada. It has also been the subject of inquiries from Japan which does not have a retrofit program as developed as the department’s. Since its inception six short years ago,the program has facilitated the earthquake retrofitting of approximately 1,600 homes in 29 counties. Eighteen of the homes were retrofitted in Napa County just before the September 3,2000 Napa earthquake. The retrofitted homes were not damaged although they were located near the Yountville epicenter while many non-retrofitted homes nearby were damaged. It is clear to the California Department of Insurance that retrofitting really works.
The department has paid almost $7 million to make sure the 1,600 homes of low-to- moderate-income homeowners were made structurally safer to resist the enormous forces of earthquakes. Please see table below for a graphic summary of quantifiable accomplishments of the program over the last six years. CDI,in partnership with the City of Oakland,used  $600,000 in federal Project Impact grant funds to retrofit 63 homes in Oakland over a recent eighteen month period.
The retrofit programs covers cost effective procedures such as anchoring homes to their foundations,installing automatic gas shut-off valves,repairing/replacing foundations,installing earthquake resistant bracing systems,etc.