How Disaster Response Teams Rise to the Challenges of a Large Loss Incident

5/11/2021 (Permalink)

Blog Summary: SERVPRO of Palo Alto, a damage restoration company serving Palo Alto, Redwood City, and Atherton, highlights SERVPRO’s Catastrophic Storm Response Teams.

In addition to being the local leader in property damage restoration, SERVPRO of Palo Alto is part of SERVPRO’s professional services network encompassing more than 1,700 individually owned and operated franchises. Founded in 1967, SERVPRO is an industry leader providing water, flood, and fire cleanup and restoration services. SERVPRO’s service network responds to property damage emergencies ranging from small individual disasters to multi-million dollar large-loss events.

One such large-loss disaster, which led to a massive response from the SERVPRO disaster response teams, was the 2017 California wildfires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection describes the devastating disaster: “In terms of property damage, 2017 was the most destructive wildfire season on record in California at the time. Throughout 2017, the fires destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures in the state (destroyed 9,470, damaged 810), a higher tally than the previous nine years combined. In total 9,133 fires burned 1,248,606 acres. In December 2017, strong Santa Ana winds triggered a new round of wildfires, including the massive Thomas Fire in Ventura County. At the time, the Thomas Fire was California’s largest modern wildfire, which has since been surpassed by the Mendocino Complex’s Ranch Fire in 2018. The December 2017 fires forced over 230,000 people to evacuate. 2017 will be remembered as a year of extremes. It was the third-warmest year on record for the United States, and it was the second-hottest in California...”

SERVPRO’s Catastrophic Storm Response Teams have responded to some of the major disasters of the last two decades. Mobilizations include:

• 2017 Hurricane Irma
• 2017 Hurricane Harvey
• 2016 Hurricane Matthew
• 2015 Carolina floods
• 2014 Polar Vortex
• 2012 Hurricane Sandy
• 2010 Nashville floods
• 2008 Hurricane Ike
• 2007 Chicago floods
• 2007 Ohio floods
• 2007 California wildfires
• 2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita

Supported by a robust network of damage restoration industry professionals, SERVPRO can respond to disasters of all sizes. If a major disaster event or catastrophic storm strikes a community, SERVPRO can call on strategically positioned storm teams that are on standby. When a town or city is devastated by severe weather or a natural disaster, local homeowners and business owners can be confident with SERVPRO’s response.

The SERVPRO model for disaster response offers the following benefits:

• The team is equipped to deal with a wide range of disasters, from hurricanes and tornadoes to blizzards and wildfires.
• Local command centers and the resources of over 1,700 franchises across the nation can be mobilized rapidly.
• SERVPRO’s Disaster Recovery Teams are available 24/7 year-round.
• A commercial operations manager supervises large loss jobs in order to ensure a seamless workflow, prompt restoration, and clear communication.

Businesses and commercial facilities can be especially hard hit by a disaster. Thousands of dollars of product and equipment, as well as vital business documentation, can be destroyed in a matter of minutes by a fire, flood, or hurricane. When a business owner loses the product of years of hard work, dedication, and passion, he or she can be devastated financially and emotionally. SERVPRO’s Commercial Large Loss program is critical to help businesses rebuild and recover.

The Commercial Large Loss Division draws on the skills and talent of the best and brightest technicians in the damage restoration industry. SERVPRO prequalifies an elite team of commercial large-loss specialists who are strategically located throughout the country. Through the deliberate and carefully planned placement and oversight of temporary labor, SERVPRO surpasses other damage restoration franchises in its ability to deploy highly-trained professionals and lower costs.

SERVPRO provides commercial large loss services for a broad spectrum of commercial settings, including the property management industry, the hospitality industry, colleges and universities, cities and municipalities, and military office complexes.

The team at SERVPRO of Palo Alto is proud to be a part of an effective, efficient network that serves people and communities in need across the United States. Whether a disaster is localized to a single residence or affects the entire town, SERVPRO of Palo Alto is committed to providing damage restoration services that reduce stress and give hope.

To learn more about the Atherton, CA, damage restoration company, contact SERVPRO of Palo Alto by phone at (650) 800-3448. The office can also be reached by email at office@SERVPROpaloalto.com.