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Last Post 01/20/2014 6:01 AM by  Medulus
Twentieth Anniversary of Northridge
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Medulus
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01/17/2014 6:15 AM
    Today in Catadjuster History:

    Twenty years ago today, at about four o'clock in the morning of Martin Luther King Day, my daughter woke me up, shouting, "Dad, it's an earthquake!!!!" I awoke to see my children and the other two children who were spending the night huddled in the doorway of my West Los Angeles apartment. It was the now-infamous Northridge Earthquake, which led to my first work as part of State Farm's catastrophe team. Hardly seems like we could be at the twentieth anniversary. I wonder if, by the time another major earthquake happens in the US, there will be any catadjusters left who know how to handle one. If so, they will be really old, like me. We won't have the likes of Tom Toll or Ray Hall or Dave Hood or Bill Tribble or Cheryl Robinson to lead the way. They have been taken from us in the interim. The best we can hope for is that some of us "rookies" might still be around to step up to the plate.
    Steve Ebner CPCU AIC AMIM

    "With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Martin Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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    Leland
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    01/18/2014 9:55 AM
    From the Los Angeles Times:

    Twenty years after the Northridge earthquake, experts say a huge temblor across Southern California today could cripple cellphone and Wi-Fi Internet service:

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...z2qgZoUueO

    Northridge earthquake, 20 years later:

    http://www.latimes.com/local/la-nor...z2qlHoOzPd

    It could be challenging if you can't all the insured or get through traffic.

    I wasn't an adjuster at the time but I remember the closure of the 10 freeway at La Cienega where the bridge collapsed.

    http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...65071.html

    There were some people who died when elevated freeways collapsed, either below them or on top of them.
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    CatAdjusterX
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    01/19/2014 8:01 PM

    I remember that morning. I was living in Southern California and the temblor woke me and my girl and her then 3 year old daughter (now 23) where the heck does the time go? I lived in a city in SoCal called Upland. If I remember correctly, the epicenter was over 60 some odd miles away and yet the apartment shook like the devil. No damage (just shredded nerves) I think EQ's are the great equalizer. I have never been more scared nor felt more helpless than when the ground shakes like that. I remember freeway overpasses collapsing and an LAPD motorcycle officer plunged to his death and an apartment building collapsed in Northridge killing more than a few.

    I think we are due for a big one now. We had the 89 SF quake then Northridge in 94.......

    For those of you like Steve, Crawford has a first response team that will deploy almost immediately after the shaking stops to establish a baseline for damage and costs for the California Earthquake Authority. Steve with your experience with Northridge, well the opportunity is there. Like you stated, I don't think there are many folks with any real EQ experience

    "A good leader leads..... ..... but a great leader is followed !!" CatAdjusterX@gmail.com
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    Medulus
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    01/20/2014 6:01 AM
    My thinking is that, if there is a large earthquake, my biggest problem will be turning down the 75 companies that want to offer me (and every other catadjuster) work. My former boss at the company where I worked DIC earthquake claims and did DIC earthquake inspections for nearly five years has recently reiterated that his first phone call will be to me. In that case I may be working directly for the carrier as an independent assisting in supervising cat vendors. At least that is one of the "outside the box" options. The real challenge 20 years after Northridge is that the industry has not learned the lessons of Loma Prieta, Northridge, Andrew, the four in '04, or the 2005 hurricane season. That lesson is - in my thinking- if you want an experienced and competent group of catadjusters to draw from, there must be work available on the smaller cats in between.
    Steve Ebner CPCU AIC AMIM

    "With great power comes great responsibility." (Stanley Martin Lieber, Amazing Fantasy # 15 August 1962)
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