[caption id="attachment_97816" align="aligncenter" width="500"] A number of Napa buildings with unreinforced masonry, such as this one, suffered damage in the Aug. 24 quake. (credit: ZFA Structural Engineers)[/caption]
SACRAMENTO -- Governor Jerry Brown on Tuesday called on President Obama to declare the southern Napa Valley region a major disaster area to allow federal relief programs to kick in.
[caption id="attachment_97815" align="alignleft" width="160"] Gov. Jerry Brown[/caption]
Gov. Brown also issued an executive order to help cut red tape and provide additional financial assistance.
"I request that you declare a major disaster for the state of California as a result of the south Napa earthquake that affected Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties," Gov. Brown wrote in a letter sent to the White House. "Economic impacts of this event will be extensive. The earthquake caused significant damage throughout the region."
A presidential major disaster declaration triggers the release of federal funds to help communities recover. The executive order provides additional financial assistance to local agencies and nonprofit organizations and ensures residents can replace important documents and access key services without shouldering additional costs or other burdens.
Gov. Brown declared a state of emergency shortly after the 6.0 magnitude south Napa earthquake on Aug. 24.
As of Tuesday, the number of red-tagged -- deemed uninhabitable -- structures is 129, according to the city of Napa. Twenty structures having been moved to the yellow- or green-tag list, meaning caution is needed to enter them or there are no further concerns, respectively. There are more than 1,000 buildings on the yellow-tag list.
Franklin Street from First to Clay streets is set to remain closed for at least another week to allow crews to work on damage to the Andaz hotel and McCaulou’s Building.
