California Residential Mitigation Program September 2023 News and Resources No matter where you live, you are subject to disasters. Natural disasters affect everyone and can cause severe damage and endanger lives. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, and heat emergencies are all natural disasters that can be deadly to people and destructive to property. That’s why preparation is essential for the safety of you and your family. Disasters don’t plan ahead – but you can. The Department of Homeland Security has designated September as National Preparedness Month to educate the public on the importance of being prepared. When it comes to earthquakes, preparing a disaster kit, creating a family emergency plan, downloading the MyShake App and practicing how to drop, cover and hold on are all great ways to be prepared. Additionally, safeguarding your personal property is extremely important. The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) has a proven way to help homeowners safeguard their home and loved ones by lessening the potential for damage during an earthquake. CRMP’s Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) Program provides grants of up to $3,000 to seismically retrofit pre-1980 homes. Supplemental funding is also available for income-eligible residents (annual income at or below $72,080). The EBB program helps homeowners strengthen their houses by "bracing" the crawl space, when necessary, and "bolting" the foundation to the house's frame. Since 2014, more than 21,000 people have taken advantage of the program’s grant funding and completed an EBB retrofit to protect their investment. Preparing for a disaster might seem like an impossible task. Government agencies like FEMA and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, as well as organizations like Earthquake Country Alliance provide excellent websites with enough information to get you started. What can you do? Help us get the word out to eligible homeowners and interested contractors by sharing the following information via newsletter, community posts, or social media. Please feel free to tailor or personalize it. If you belong to a home association, builders association, contractor group, realtor association or social group, we encourage you to share this material with them. For questions regarding Earthquake Brace + Bolt, or to inquire about having a representative from CRMP speak about the program at your upcoming meeting, event or conference, contact the program at [email protected]. And, if you
have additional questions about CRMP, check out some of our frequently asked questions. Newsletter/Email Copy for Homeowners: Most Californians live within 30 miles of an active fault, and our state experiences an average of 10,000 earthquakes per year. So, the question you should ask yourself is this – “Should disaster strike, am I prepared? Is my family prepared?” The Department of Homeland Security has designated September as National Preparedness Month to educate the public on the importance of being prepared. We know that there are many things Californians worry about, but when it comes to earthquakes, it’s not a matter of if an earthquake will strike, but when. The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) is encouraging residents in earthquake-prone areas to make sure their homes are protected – especially if they were built prior to 1980. CRMP’s Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) Program provides grants of up to $3,000 to retrofit your pre-1980 home. Supplemental Grant funding is also available for income-eligible residents (annual income at or below $72,080), which could cover up to 100 percent of the cost! The EBB program aims to help homeowners lessen the potential for damage to their houses during an earthquake by "bracing" the crawl space, when necessary, and "bolting" the foundation to the house's frame. Since 2014, more than 21,000 people have taken advantage of the program’s grant funding and completed an EBB retrofit to protect their investment. Even though registration isn’t currently open, you can find out if you qualify and stay in the know! Use our ZIP Code search to find out if EBB is available in your area, and sign up to receive emails with program updates, including when and where our Earthquake Brace + Bolt program will open for registration. Visit EarthquakeBraceBolt.com TODAY for more information. Newsletter/Outreach Email Copy for Contractors: In California, every year we experience fires, extreme heat and earthquakes. In fact, the Golden State experiences, on average, more than 10,000 earthquakes of varying magnitudes each year, and they can happen at any time. Also, California is home to two-thirds of our nation’s earthquake risk, and most of us live within 30 miles of an active fault. Because of that risk, more than 21,000 people have taken advantage of the Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) grant funding program and opted to protect their house with a seismic retrofit. Thousands more are currently looking for an EBB-qualified contractor to complete their retrofit and strengthen their home.
This is an opportunity for you to grow your business, while helping your community become more resilient. Every September, the Department of Homeland Security officially marks National Preparedness Month as a way of educating the public on the importance of being prepared for all types of disasters. And while there are many ways people can mitigate risk, one key thing to consider is this – there are more than 1.2 million homes in California built before 1980 in high-hazard areas that are vulnerable to collapse by sliding off the foundation during a strong earthquake. The EBB program can help by offering eligible homeowners grants up to $3,000 to offset the cost of a seismic retrofit. The type of retrofit work these grants cover includes bracing the cripple walls of older homes, when present, and bolting the houses to their foundations. Once homeowners qualify for the grant, they look for trained contractors to do the retrofit work. Before you can start reaping the rewards of this new business, you must first register and complete the required free FEMA training in order to be listed on the EBB Directory. The training takes about two hours to complete. Homeowners do have the option of doing the retrofit themselves as a DIY; however, if they are going to hire a contractor, they must hire a contractor listed on the Directory to complete their EBB retrofit. Your listing is searchable by homeowners looking for contractors near them. Free marketing materials are available and can be ordered at EBBTools.com. Free program support is also available. To learn more about the program, go to EarthquakeBraceBolt.com. You can find images for your social media platforms here. Social Media Social media is a great way to help spread awareness about the EBB program and the resources available to California homeowners. Between now and September 31, 2023, please consider sharing social media content and resources through your own network. We encourage interested parties to reshare and tag us in the content we post to our program’s social media platforms as we continue to promote these resources. Please see below for a list of links and handles that can be used to tag us, including a list of hashtags that can be applied to each post. Facebook: @EQBraceBolt Twitter: @EQBraceBolt YouTube: @earthquakebracebolt3985
Hashtags: #earthquake #BraceandBolt #EBB #retrofit #homeowners #contractors #safeguard #CEA #didyouknow #ICYMI #damage #houses #homes #grant #funding #NationalPreparednessMonth Thank you for helping us get the word out about the California Residential Mitigation Program’s Earthquake Brace + Bolt program. If you want to register for the EBB grant or know someone who qualifies, please visit EarthquakeBraceBolt.com. Additionally, check out some impactful testimonials from homeowners who have recently retrofitted their homes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXh_aBbL9tQ Notable California Earthquakes California experiences more than 10,000 earthquakes each year. And while many are smaller in magnitude, over the years there have been many historical earthquakes that are still talked about today. The following is a list of notable earthquakes in September: September 3, 2000 – a magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurred in Yountville September 9, 2001 – a magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred in West Hollywood September 12, 1966 – a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred in Truckee September 18, 2020 – a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurred in South El Monte September 20, 1995 – a magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred in Ridgecrest September 28, 2004 – a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in Parkfield (Monterey County) September 30, 2020 – a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurred in Westmorland (Imperial County) About the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) CRMP was established in 2011 to help Californians strengthen their homes against damage from earthquakes. CRMP is a joint powers authority created by the California Earthquake Authority and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. For more information, please visit CaliforniaResidentialMitigationProgram.com.