Living in Mendocino County comes with a variety of risks, whether from floods, fires, tsunamis, or earthquakes.
The County of Mendocino is updating the 2020 Hazard Mitigation Plan, in collaboration with local municipalities, districts, and other community organizations. This plan is designed to reduce the risks posed by hazards that affect our communities. In July, OES staff attended Planning Committee meetings as part of the kickoff for the plan update. Meetings were held in Ukiah, Willits, Fort Bragg, and Point Arena, and representatives from other stakeholder groups and regions were on hand at those meetings.
The public is encouraged to provide feedback on the update by filling out a brief survey, which covers the many types of hazards found in Mendocino County. The survey asks respondents to prioritize the areas that are of the most importance to them. One goal of the survey is to identify ways to reduce hazards.
The plan must be updated and approved by FEMA every five years to maintain eligibility for certain types of federal mitigation grant funding.
The Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services (OES) is requesting that residents share their thoughts on hazard risk and recommend ways to reduce community vulnerability to hazards. The update will cover the following hazards:
Coastal Hazards: Coastal Flooding, Sea-Level Rise, and Erosion Dam and levee incident Drought Earthquake Extreme cold or freeze Extreme heat Floods Landslides, Rock Falls, & Debris Flows Severe storms Tsunamis WildfireThe plan covers all of Mendocino County, including unincorporated areas and the cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, and Willits. It also included some special districts, including the Covelo Fire Protection District, the Mendocino County Office of Education, the Noyo Harbor District, and Redwood Coast Fire.
The response period for the survey began on September 19th, with responses continuing to be collected until October 19th.
The County’s OES is the primary coordinating agency for emergencies affecting residents, infrastructure, and government operations in what is known as the Mendocino County Operational Area. Recently, they coordinated a tsunami advisory resulting from an 8.8 earthquake in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Luckily, the county has been spared any serious fire incidents thus far during this year’s fire season.
The OES is the agency responsible for activating an Emergency Operations Center when needed for fires or other types of disasters or emergencies. The OES works with other jurisdictions, such as the City of Ukiah. Staff recently attended a tabletop exercise. The scenario studied was a wildfire affecting the western hills, moving toward the Ukiah city limits. OES staff are working with planning contractors to develop a flood response plan for the county, and regularly attend Fire Chief Association meetings.
OES, the Mendocino Fire Safe Council, Brooktrails Fire, Cal Fire, the Brooktrails Community District, the Sherwood Fire Safe Council, and the recently funded Ukiah Fire Fuels Crew met this year to list, prioritize, and identify funding sources for fuel reduction projects in the Brooktrails community. A new, AI-generated smoke alert to help with wildfire detection is now available to OES Staff. This enables them to control mobile cameras within their jurisdiction, which leads to better response efforts and a heightened ability to assess conditions.
Other safety-related measures being addressed by the county include Phase I of the Redwood Valley Sirens Project, funded by a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The first phase was the creation of a feasibility study for the installation of 4 early warning sirens in the Redwood Valley-Capella Fire District. OES is awaiting approval from FEMA before construction can begin.
Cal Fire has funded a multi-faceted Fuels Reduction and Community Preparedness project, which helped to reduce roadside fuel reduction in the Covelo and Laytonville areas. A prescribed burn took place at the Covelo Airport in May, and fuel reduction is taking place in Ukiah, particularly along Low Gap Road. The county is working with the Mendocino Fire Safe Council to change the scope of the Mendocino County Community Chipper Days program.
Another Cal Fire-funded project will address the design for an emergency evacuation route serving Deerwood Estates, El Dorado Estates, Vichy Springs, and the Guidiville Rancheria.
A BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program) Grant, funded through FEMA (if federal cuts don’t quash the project), will address 750 home retrofits using ignition-resistant construction materials and defensible space establishments, along with 1,520 acres of hazardous fuels reduction in the Brooktrails/Sherwood corridor and areas around the City of Willits water treatment plant. Staff are seeking alternative funding in the event that FEMA funds are unavailable.
Another FEMA-based Hazard Mitigation Grant offers rebates that partially reimburse the replacement of flammable roofing materials with non-flammable materials. Eleven reimbursements have been issued, with another handful of applicants in various stages of participation. Surveying is taking place on a 10-mile stretch of Orr Springs Road from the City of Ukiah to the Orr Springs community, and another 14 miles from Comptche to the Village of Mendocino, with the goal of fuel clearing to improve egress and ingress during fire events.
The county’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan was completed in May of this year. It outlines local strategies for managing wildfire risks, prioritizing actions to protect life, property, and resources. A team including county staff, operational area partners, State and Federal agencies, non-profits, and community groups participated in the drafting of the plan, which also included input from the public.
In March, the county was awarded funding to improve flood emergency response capabilities throughout Mendocino County by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Bond Act of 2006. The county is in the process of locating a vendor, with the goal of creating a Flood Response Plan, identifying communications needs, purchasing communications equipment and placing flood response supplies in strategic areas countywide.
The Hazard Mitigation survey can be accessed at bit.ly/MendoHMP. For more information, contact the Office of Emergency Services at (707) 234-6398 or email OES@mendocinocounty.gov.
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