Napa quake impacts group that sends care packages to troops overseas

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- Three months after the Napa earthquake, the aftereffects are still being felt. In this case, a storage unit containing items for troops overseas remains off-limits to those who want to give back.

The metal on two sides of building 900 at Napa Self Storage is warped, bent, and unstable. The entire building, housing 200 units, was red tagged after the Napa earthquake in Aug.

It's the not knowing that's frustrating storage tenants. They have no idea what condition their things are in, or if they'll ever see them again.

"It's a limbo, it's not our property, we can't get into it yet, but it is our property inside," said storage tenant Lisa Wieland.

The tenants took their concerns to the Napa City Council on Tuesday. The very next day, the storage owners sent tenants a letter.

Reading the letter out loud, Wieland said, "We've been struggling with technical and engineering issues to try to find a way to recover tenant's property."

Many tenants aren't buying it.

"We just need a straight answer," said storage tenant Steven Roys.

Those who run "Operation: With Love From Home" can't wait any longer. They send care packages to the troops for Christmas. Most of their inventory was in building 900

"It really broke my heart that we lost half of what we had in there and getting it back is going to be rough," Roys said.

All new donations in a new storage unit likely won't be enough to meet their goal of sending 1,000 care packages next month.

"This is such a movement of the heart, this program, and it's extremely disappointing to know we can't send those overseas," said Liz Alessio with "Operation: With Love From Home."

ABC7 News has learned the City of Napa has agreed to get involved. It'll reach out to the owners of the self-storage company to find out what exactly is going on. And then tenants will be briefed at a meeting Dec. 2.

To learn more about how you can help "Operation: With Love From Home," click here.