Potential Hazards

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Damage Assessment
Prepared by Greg Vause
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Potential Hazards

• Overhead Hazards
• Ground Level Hazards
• Below Grade Hazards

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Who Is 1?
Remember, if you get hurt it puts you and your
entire team out of commission!
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Overhead Hazards

• Leaning buildings, walls, utility poles.
• Overhanging pieces of a building, signs,
  cornices, decorative work.
• Chimneys.
• Utility wires that could cause electrocution.
• Trees.

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Overhead Hazards
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Overhead Hazards
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Ground Level Hazards

• Sharp objects.
• Slippery, uneven surfaces.
• Accumulation of surface water.
• Anything obscuring your view of walking surface.
• Downed electrical wires
• Inquisitive people, children, animals.

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Ground Level Hazards
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All wires are electrically charged!
Photo courtesy of FEMA
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Below Grade Hazards

• Confined spaces.
• Flammable, toxic, or oxygen deficient air.
• Flooding due to water leaks or actual flooding.
• Downed electrical wires.
• Debris.

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Below Grade Hazards
Flooded Basement
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Assessing Damage
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Assessing Damage
Always walk all the way around a structure.
What may look relatively undamaged from one angle
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Assessing Damage
can look completely different from another angle.
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Assessing Damage
This is not a ground level deck!
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Structural Damage

• Most buildings that have suffered structural
  damage will show very distinctive outward signs,
  including
• Separation Between Buildings
• Horizontal Lines
• Vertical Lines
• Liquifaction
• Cracks

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Separation Between Buildings

• Is it even?
• Was it there before?
• Are other buildings on the block similar?

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Horizontal Lines

• Uneven window lines, balconies, roofs
• Foundation not level
• Ground around foundation

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Horizontal Lines
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Vertical Lines

• Any leaning
• Compare to building next door
• Garage doors and entry ways
• Doors out of plumb or uneven

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Vertical Lines
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Liquifaction

• Definition The process of making or becoming
  liquid.
• Around the foundation area.
• Coming out of openings on ground floor.

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Liquifaction
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Cracks

• Especially around
• Garage doors
• Entry doors
• Windows
• Foundation

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Cracks
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Structural Damage and the CERT Mission

• Stable
• Lightly Damaged
• Moderately Damaged

• Unstable
• Heavily Damaged

A CERT member should only enter buildings with
stable damage.
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Do Not Enter Buildings that are Unstable
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Light Damage

• Superficial damage
• Broken windows
• Fallen or cracked plaster
• Damage is to building contents

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Light Damage
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CERT Mission in Lightly Damaged Building

• Search, locate, and triage victims.
• Prioritize the removal of victims.
• Shut off utilities, if necessary.
• Record all actions.

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Moderate Damage

• Visible signs of moderate structural damage
• Decorative work damaged or fallen
• Many visible cracks in plaster
• Major damage is to building contents

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Moderate Damage
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CERT Mission in Moderately Damaged Building

• Document the location of heavily trapped victims
  and inform the EOC.
• Spend as little time in building as possible.
• Shut off utilities, if necessary.
• Record all actions.

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Heavy Damage

• Partially or totally collapsed
• Tilting
• Off the foundation
• Obvious instability

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Heavy Damage
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CERT Mission in Heavily Damaged Building

• Secure perimeter.
• Control access to building.
• Shut off utilities, if necessary and safe to do
  so.
• Gather as much information as possible.
• Inform the EOC of location and extent of damage.

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WHAT IS IT?
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HOW ABOUT THIS ONE
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COULD YOU ENTER?
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WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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