The La Honda community is rightfully discussing emergency evacuation plans in light of recent wildland fires in California and several contained nearby. The sobering loss of life in Concow and Paradise appear attributable in part to poor preparedness and lack of communication with residents. Read the sad and scary story in the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-camp-fire-tictoc-20181118-story.html. It’s estimated that only 30% of residents had signed up for an early alert system. The town had a prior evacuation 10 years ago that illuminated their vulnerabilities, but few steps were taken to rectify the situation. We can’t avoid all disasters, but odds are greatly increased with a bit of planning. I’m hopeful our community will organize some simulated evacuations to explore what may happen in a real emergency. Even though a well-planned exercise can go reasonably well, things quickly get chaotic when panic sets in.
An early warning system is possibly the best defense against panic and chaos. Some residents may have had issues with SMC Alert in the past, but I encourage everyone to take another look at San Mateo County’s new Emergency Alert System (https://hsd.smcsheriff.com/smcalert or SMCAlert.info). An earlier version was replaced a few years back and some users got caught in both old and new systems. The county sent letters to subscribers to update their accounts, but apparently response was low. It’s difficult to design large scale systems that will please everyone, but San Mateo County’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) has been steadily improving the system the last two years, listening to comments from our community and other users of the system. An efficient system relies on both end-users and the folks sending out alerts to understand and be smart about its use.
Our first responders and emergency coordinators are the ones who enter information into the system. During an incident, they make a lot of quick decisions about their best response. It may involve attention to saving a life or safety in the immediate area. Sending a text alert may be a secondary priority. We may not immediately get all the info we’d like, but remember, they’re learning to use the system too.
SMCAlert and NIXLE
For our part, we can spend time tailoring alerts to our needs. If you’re already a subscriber to SMCAlert, log in again and check your info https://hsd.smcsheriff.com/smcalert or search SMCAlert.info. There may be some things you want to update in your profile. If you haven’t yet subscribed, there are now a couple of ways to utilize alerts. If you’re leery of entering a lot of information into the system, you can now sign up for alerts using NIXLE. You can subscribe to NIXLE by texting 888-777. You won’t need to give an address in order to receive text alerts.
If you subscribe to SMCAlert, you can choose which number(s) or email(s) you’d like to receive alerts on, as well as communities of interest in San Mateo County. I’ve chosen communities along the coast as well as Skyline, Portola Valley and Woodside. If you have special skills or equipment that could be utilized in an emergency you can enter that too. Lastly you can choose the types of alerts you wish to receive. I believe everyone receives Public Safety Emergencies alerts, but you can add Crime Alerts, Wildlife Alerts (ie: Mountain Lions), and Major Road Closures.
You may register up to five addresses in the alert system such as your home, work, child's school or a relative’s residence. The information you provide is protected and will not be used for any other purpose other than emergency notification. You can stop receiving at any time by removing your contact information from your profile.
Why should I enter my address?
When you enter an address, it’s geocoded within the mapping system. The mapping system allows emergency personnel to focus alerts to a specific neighborhood or an entire city. If you don't include at least one address, you may miss an important alert. The system allows circles or lines to be drawn around specific areas rather than just distance-based notices (ie: 100ft, 500ft). This is important, because sometimes the nearest neighbors are fairly far away and should get notice, but the entire town doesn’t need to know.
And please, get to know your neighbors! You must take care of yourself and your family first, but think about any neighbors who may have mobility issues, or may not have received an alert. Take a minute or two to think about who else may need assistance getting out of the area. Amidst the sad and horrifying stories from recent fires, heartwarming stories of rescues and thoughtfulness are beginning to emerge. Together and informed, we are strong.