Crown Harbor Homeowner Association

Coordinating Agencies

Lynn Seng coordinates CERT efforts at the city of Alameda level. Lynn is involved in the CERT training courses that individuals can take but feels that the city's plans are lacking at the "block" level. Lynn notes that Crown Harbor is light years ahead of other neighborhoods. As our local CERT coordinators, Lynn took contact information for Crown Harbor neighborhood leaders: Ron Barrett, Ellen Marshall, and Barbara Bolton. In the event of a serious emergency, Lynn will contact the leaders to see if Crown Harbor has any urgent needs and offer assistance.

Vehicle Entrance Gate

• After a disaster, the Crown Harbor vehicle and pedestrian gates could be an issue. The main gate has a recently installed back up electrical system, so there should be a bit of limited use.

• There is also a way to manually open the gates. The Gate Release Document outlines how to open the entrance/exit gate in the event of a power outage.

• For those who may be having trouble with the gate, resident, Thomas Burns, knows how to operate the release and has volunteered to help in emergency situations.

Pedestrian Entrance Gates

• The pedestrian pathway gates would likely go to the closed lock mode and without electrical would stay there.

• An advantage of a gated community is that entrance is controlled by residents in the event of a disaster.

• The following residents have keys to the locks associated with the entrance gates:

  • Burny Matthews
  • Dave Eck
  • Tom Burns

Turning Off Gas Is Critical

• Units are very susceptible to fire with since they are wood frame houses.

• Unlike for water, there is no one main gas shutoff valve for all of Crown Harbor.

• Fortunately, many units have automatic shut off valves that should trigger in the event of an earthquake. Owners of units without shutoff valves can get them installed by Ethan's Plumbing Service, 875 A Island Drive #358, (510) 390-4185.

• For units without emergency gas shutoff valves can pool their service requests and perhaps get a discount from Andy Weber Plumbing, 2313 Encinal Avenue, (510) 523-0628.

• Gas shut off needs to be done very early.

Be Prepared for Liquefaction

• Crown Harbor is situated on a fill which can liquefy which greatly increases the risk of structural and utility line damage.

• There is also the possibility, that with liquefaction, Crown Harbor could end up with house settling or some Bay water encroachment.

Sump Pumps at Sewage Lift Station

• Crown Harbor sewer lines are below the main EBMUD line on Central. In the event of electrical failure, the sumps would fill and overflow onto Crown Drive. There is a main valve that controls the water flow for all of Crown Harbor.

• In the event of an earthquake, the old irrigation lateral lines would very likely sustain damage. There is a secondary valve that would need to be shut to shut off the irrigation system. At some point, the main water line could be turned on with the irrigation line left off.

• The circumstances regarding the sump pump and irrigation system mean water shut off has to be done very early. CERT Members would likely want the Crown Harbor main water shut off immediately.

Turning Off Water

• The control valves are located behind the road sign for Crown Drive and Queens Road.

• There are 2 blue handles. The one labeled #2 controls the main water flow. The other one controls the irrigation system.

• In a disaster situation, both should be pulled up, perpendicular to the pipe, to shut off the flow.

Portable Chemical Toilets

• The water will be off to avoid flushing that cannot be handled by the pumping station due to lack of electricity.

• Though the Association has 4 of these on hand, residents are encouraged to purchase portable toilet chemicals and toilet waste bags that are available in many stores or on the web at sites such as Amazon or eBay.

• The bag can be fitted over an existing toilet that has been emptied of its water. One gallon of water is added to the bag along with the chemicals.

• In addition, the earthquake shed for Crown Harbor has 2 portable toilet containers along with a supply of kitty litter.

Turning the Electricity Back On

• In the event of an emergency, the electricity will most likely be off.

• When power is restored, the circuit breakers for the pump station may need to be reset.

• When power is restored, the circuit breakers for the street and pathway lights may need to be reset.

• The following residents have a key to the lock on the circuit breaker boxes:

  • Ed Stavnezer
  • Dave Eck

NOAA Radio

• NOAA Weather Radio is a service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, broadcasting on seven VHF Band frequencies ranging from 162.400 MHz to 162.550 MHz. These frequencies are outside the normal AM or FM broadcast bands, and are therefore not found on the average home radio.

• The broadcast schedule consists of recorded messages which are repeated every 3 to 5 minutes and are routinely revised to provide the latest and up-to-date information.

• The California station is KHB49 (see map) which broadcasts from San Francisco.

Ham Radio

• Ron Barrett is a licensed Ham radio operator.

• Ron's Ham radio has emergency power.

• Ron's antenna allows connections beyond line-of-sight range typical of UHF/VHF transmissions and allows Crown Harbor to send/receive emergency traffic with State and National emergency centers. The radio also has a web link that allows Crown Harbor to send/receive email messages even though Crown Harbor may be without electricity nor internet service. This includes Crown Harbor residents letting loved ones in other parts of the world know that they are OK even though the rest of the Bay Area may be under a blackout. The email address for Ron's radio is K6MZW@winlink.org.

• Ron is a member of the CERT Radio and Logistics team.

• Denise Gasti is also a licensed Ham radio operator. Her radio is battery powered. Since Denise does not have a special antenna, she can only communicate locally; however, she can serve as Ron's backup in the event of an emergency.

• Lynn Seng, the city of Alameda CERT coordinator, recommends that every neighborhood have a HAM radio for use in the event of a disaster.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

• An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provides a way to inspect and document any damage that Crown Harbor may sustain in a disaster as part of the CERT mission.

• Crown Harbor resident, Ron Barrett, owns a Phantom 4 UAV.

• UAV operation requires a license. Ron holds an FAA REMOTE PILOT license #3908712.