When catastrophe strikes – whether in the form of a sudden force of nature or devastating manmade event – ATI enacts a rapid response to deploy a team of catastrophe response experts best suited to assess the damage and get to work.

With trailers of equipment placed strategically throughout the country, our Catastrophe Response Team (CAT Team) is poised to respond swiftly – ready to launch a coordinated effort to restore business as usual. We will work with you to assess damage and outline project scope, including necessary emergency services and the economics of repair vs. replacement. At ATI we always respect environmental and hazardous abatement protocols, provide thorough documentation, and work hard to minimize disruptions and protect occupant safety.

The experienced, versatile professionals at ATI are well-versed in catastrophe response services, including:

• Environmental Remediation – removal and disposal of hazardous waste such as asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other hazardous materials (including referrals for air monitoring consultation)
• Demolition – assessment of damaged areas to determine what can be restored or returned to operation, then removal of charred/wet debris and structural materials
• Odor Removal – deployment of new technologies and chemicals to control odors on both a short and long-term basis, minimizing further physical and physiological damage
• Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Systems – cleaning, deodorization, and encapsulation of HVAC systems to reduce or eliminate the need for replacement after smoke and soot damage
• Electronic Data Processing Equipment – halting of initial corrosion, then chemical and physical reconditioning
• Documents/Valuable Papers – hand dry cleaning and Freon cleaning of contaminated documents, freeze drying and vacuum drying of wet papers
• General Cleaning of Contents and Furnishings – thorough cleaning of floors, walls, ceilings, fixtures, windows, furniture, draperies, upholstery, small contents, wall hangings, files, books, etc.
• Mechanical Shaft and Elevator – decontamination of interior shafts and elevator hoists
• Encapsulation of Structural Surfaces – application of pigmented sealer to surfaces that cannot be cleaned or restored back to original condition, to eliminate future odor problems
• Removal and disposal of hazardous waste such as asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other dangerous materials.

2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma Damage

During the turbulent 2005 hurricane season, Hurricane Katrina was one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States while Hurricane Wilma is recorded as the most intense hurricane ever to hit the Atlantic basin. The aftermath of both hurricanes required immediate catastrophe response action. Within 24 hours of each disaster, the ATI CAT Team was dispatched to provide emergency clean up services. Although initially occupied with mitigating damage in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, ATI also deployed additional emergency personnel to Mexico and Florida right after Hurricane Wilma. With both disasters, ATI dispatched emergency services teams to manage labor pools, oversee clean-up efforts, perform necessary demolition and dry-downs and enact mold prevention.

2007 Southern California Wildfires

A state of emergency was declared in seven Southern California counties as wildfires and firestorms burned over 500,000 acres of land from Santa Barbara all the way down to the Mexico-California border. After the fires were finally contained, American Technologies, Inc. geared up to mitigate the effects of the fires and set up Emergency Response Centers in all four of our Southern California offices, as well as deploying assistance from our Northern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas offices. For the next few months, Catastrophe Response Teams provided debris removal, onsite dry downs, HVAC cleaning, contents cleaning and structural reconstruction to reverse the widespread effects of the fire and smoke on local residential, commercial and industrial facilities.