Napa residents begin process of repairing quake-damaged homes

Lyanne Melendez Image
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Napa homeowners survey the wreckage after Sunday's 6.0 quake
Napa homeowners began assessing and cleaning up the damage caused by Sunday's 6.0 earthquake.

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- City officials said 70 homes and buildings in Napa have been red-tagged and more than 100 have been yellow-tagged as of Monday evening. People are now beginning to assess the damage and are in the process of repairing their homes.

Businesses that deal in window and glass replacement have been overwhelmed following yesterday's quake.

"This started early yesterday morning 4:30, 5 o'clock, so we just started making contact, going downtown, trying to help out as much as we could and get dimensions to provide quotes to do the repairs," said Jeremy Jones of Javco Window and Glass.

Some of the windows at a senior residential and assisted living home on Villa Lane were broken, or the frames became detached, but it's nothing like some of the damage seen downtown or in some other neighborhoods.

Lou Klemme has owned his home for 38 years. The chimney collapsed falling on the roof, which then cracked the living room ceiling.

"When the actual chimney landed on the roof it broke one rafter, so we're going to have to repair that. And then I'm taking the whole chimney down," Klemme said.

Klemme has already hired a contractor.

VIDEO: Napa resident grateful quake damage wasn't worse

Several homes on Twin Oaks Drive will have to undergo extensive repairs. Structural engineers from the city of Napa are available to homeowners to evaluate the damage. They are recommending if residents hire a contractor, make sure he or she is licensed.

"There are people who take advantage of the situation and they will come and tell you need x, y and z done and they will pretend to do it and they'll take your money. And you may not have needed the work to begin with, or you may have needed something that they didn't do," said Barry Martin, city Napa City official.

Most Napa residents don't carry earthquake insurance.

There are now drop off boxes in downtown Napa for businesses to get rid of their debris. Those boxes are also located at all schools in the city.