Community members in Occidental and Camp Meeker spent Saturday morning, June 19, preparing to evacuate from their properties because of hazards that have yet to happen.
As part of a continuing series of coordinated evacuation drills put on by the county of Sonoma, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, as well as community groups and fire agencies, community members were asked to sign up for an evacuation exercise meant to give first responders the opportunity to practice alerting residents using high-lo sirens and the county’s mobile alert system.
Those who opted-in should’ve received a SoCoAlert notification telling them to evacuate from their homes and head to the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Once there, participants could take part in a preparedness resource fair at Ives Park.
“This is as close as you will get to experiencing a real evacuation, including knowing what the sirens sound like,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins, who represents the Fifth District, in a statement prior to the event. “Exercises like this are an invaluable opportunity for residents to help emergency managers stage one in a large area that will pose challenges if we need to evacuate it quickly.”
After the evacuation, while groups were set up at Ives Park, some participants said that they didn’t receive a phone notification and that they didn’t hear the high-lo siren, despite registering as a participant beforehand.
“Each time we hold an evacuation exercise, we all learn a tremendous amount — emergency officials and first responders as well as residents who participate,” said Chris Godley, director of Emergency Management for Sonoma County, in a statement prior to the event. “Each area of the county poses different challenges, from vegetation to geography to road capacity. That is why it is so crucial that residents participate, including signing up for SoCoAlert, connecting with their neighbors and routinely practicing their evacuation routes.”
A similar evacuation exercise took place on Healdsburg’s Fitch Mountain a few weeks ago.
