Summit Engineering sends staff to New Jersey to assess damage from Hurricane Sandy

Structural engineering staff from Summit Engineering in Portsmouth, NH traveled to the Jersey Shore this month, where they joined the monumental project of assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. In this ongoing project, Summit’s structural engineering team is helping to evaluate homes and determine whether damage was caused by wind or flooding. “As structural engineers living and working in New England, we’ve seen our share of storm damage,” said Bob Champagne, co-owner of Summit who has just returned from his second trip to New Jersey. “It is an area we are experienced with, and we’re glad that we’re able to use that experience to help in the process of assessing the damage from Sandy.” Insurance assessors on the Jersey Shore need structural engineers to evaluate whether damage was caused by flooding or wind/wind-driven rain. This distinction is especially important in the case of hurricane damage on the Jersey Shore because although wind damage is covered by most home insurance, homeowners in regions not typically affected by hurricanes normally do not carry flood insurance. Summit’s structural engineering team was contracted by Root Cause Consulting, a Florida consulting engineering company. Root Cause was hired by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the federal authority that provides flood insurance. Summit will complete written reports with photographs for submittal to Root Cause and ultimately NFIP. Summit’s structural engineers will inspect home damage that may compromise the integrity and safety of the structure. Summit will be performing visual inspection walk-throughs, including attics and crawlspaces, and then delivering assessments and photographs of structural damage to Root Cause Consulting and subsequently NFIP. “We are glad that we’re able to assist in the evaluation of the hurricane damage,” said Champagne, “and we hope that our assessments of these homes can contribute to the recovery from Sandy and help the homeowners of the Jersey Shore start to rebuild.” Located in Portsmouth, NH, Summit Engineering provides structural design, construction administration and inspection services on a variety of project types throughout the East Coast, including assessing structural damage caused by storms.