City of Sonoma

The use of Nixle, SoCoAlerts, 2-1-1 Sonoma County, and PulsePoint has helped to reduce the emergency call load to 9-1-1 during a disaster by providing important information to the public.

During an emergency, residents in both the incorporated and unincorporated portions of Sonoma County receive multiple and at times conflicting messages.

The role of the Emergency Operations Center during recent emergencies has helped to improve the sharing of information among the many fire and police districts and the County as well as improving the consistency of messaging across alert and warning platforms; particularly, the Nixle, SoCoAlerts. RESPONSE: The respondent agrees with the finding. The City of Sonoma and Sonoma Police Department coordinate with the Sherriff’s Office and Department of Emergency Management to send out alerts in City limits. The City participates in, and is appreciative of, the increased emergency information sharing and consistent messaging among neighboring districts, jurisdictions, and communication platforms.

The low-technology alert systems (for example hi-lo and air raid sirens), which do not rely on communication towers, provide essential backup during power outages and cellphone tower breakdowns during severe storms or fires. RESPONSE: The respondent partially agrees with the finding. The City of Sonoma agrees that the two tone, Hi/Low evacuation sirens installed in all City of Sonoma Police Department Field Services vehicles have been a success in effectively notifying individuals to evacuate in both rural and populated areas. Given that City is not ultimately responsible for the County's alert and warning systems, the City is not the appropriate department to evaluate, install, or operate air raid sirens. We are supportive of the County's Department of Emergency exploring this alternative solution.

Due to the topography within Sonoma County, the re-institution of audible alarms such as air-raid sirens could dependably reach residents in remote areas and work as a reliable tried- and-true alarm system. RESPONSE: The respondent partially agrees with the finding. The City of Sonoma partially agrees that air raid sirens placed strategically around the County could potentially reach residents in remote areas; however, the responsibility for the County's alert and warning systems lies with the County's Department of Emergency Management (DEM). Therefore, DEM would be the appropriate department to evaluate the effectiveness of air-raid sirens.

Different evacuation zone designations for the same area (numbers, names, streets, areas, etc.) by the County, cities, CAL FIRE and agencies can lead to confusion for residents during an emergency. RESPONSE: The respondent agrees with the finding. The City of Sonoma agrees that clear direction regarding evacuation zones can be critical in an active emergency. The City has developed pre-planned evacuation zones in cooperation with the Sheriff's Office and DEM. The Sheriff’s Office has developed a County-wide evacuation mapping system that allows people can identify their zone well in advance of a disaster and be better prepared should the need to evacuate arise.

Because evacuation zones were not published or known, prior to the recent emergencies, residents were unaware of their evacuation zones. RESPONSE: The respondent agrees with the finding. The City of Sonoma agrees that evacuation zones were not widely known to residents prior to the creation of County-wide evacuation map with pre-planned codes in May 2021. On May 21st, 2021, the City of Sonoma posted the complete County-wide evacuation map to our website. The County-wide map displays all the numbered evacuation zones for the City of Sonoma, the unincorporated area, and the eight additional incorporated cities.

Not all police and fire agencies within the County show an Evacuation Map on their website. RESPONSE: The respondent partially agrees with the finding. The evacuation map is posted on the City of Sonoma and Sonoma Valley Fire District websites. The City of Sonoma does not have jurisdiction or oversight over other police and fire agencies and does not know what resources they have posted on their respective websites.

F17, The County communication network is at risk of communication tower/repeater equipment loss through delayed maintenance and failure to update obsolescent equipment, or disaster loss affecting the Sheriff’s Department, city, police, fire agencies, and Redwood Empire Dispatch Communications. There is no backup system for the County communication towers/repeaters or for commercial cellular towers should they fail to function. The County communication towers/repeaters and cellular provider towers are not maintained and protected (including defensible space) sufficiently to ensure alerts and warnings can go out in the event of a disaster, Department of Emergency Management does not have documentation/maps of the physical location of the cellular provider communication towers in the event of a disaster. PulsePoint is a useful tool for community groups and the public for early notification of fire activites (e.g. controlled burns, smoke). Calls dispatched through Redwood Empire Dispatch Communications (REDCOM) are updated onto PulsePoint. Residents of Cloverdale and Rohnert Park cannot receive local PulsePoint alerts because those cities do not utilize Redwood Empire Dispatch Communications (REDCOM) for fire and medical dispatch. Emergency Alerts and Communications 28 Emergency Operations Plans

Recommendations documented in After Action Reports following a disaster have not been incorporated into the current Emergency Operations Plans for Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management, the Sheriff's Office, Cities, and fire agencies. RESPONSE: The respondent agrees with this finding. The City of Sonoma’s current Emergency Operations Plan was last updated in 2015 and does not include recommendations documented in the After-Action Report from the 2017 Wildfires. However, the City does have the 2017 Wildfires After-Action report and presentation available on the City’s website.

Sonoma County has made good progress in Community Outreach and Preparedness since the 2017 Tubbs Fire, however; residents may not fully appreciate or realize that preparing for resiliency during emergencies is an ever-evolving process and requires ongoing attention. Government cannot help residents with everything during a disaster. Continued development and expansion of Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies / Community Emergency Response Teams groups are deemed essential as major emergencies could overwhelm agencies’ ability to fully reach and protect people and property.