The cities of Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley in eastern Ventura County have joined forces to enhance emergency preparedness and evacuation planning. This initiative coincides with the 2023 Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill, scheduled next week, October 19. A bilingual emergency preparedness booklet will be mailed to targeted residents, providing guidance on planning for emergencies and understanding local emergency information, as reported by Simi Valley Police Department.
Given their history of emergencies like the Thomas Fire, Easy Fire, Woolsey Fire, flooding, and wind disturbances, these cities felt an impelling need to gain a more unified approach to evacuation and emergency plans. Robust public involvement has been stressed as essential in these plans to accurately represent the residents' needs.
Moorpark Mayor, Chris Enegren, emphasizes the importance of understanding residents' current state of emergency preparedness as well as their specific concerns. His statement highlights factors like railroad crossings, bridges, and zoos as specific challenges to plan for.
Thousand Oaks Mayor, Kevin McNamee, encourages shared responsibility in tackling challenges posed by disasters like fires, floods, or earthquakes. Fully funded by grants, this initiative aims to boost community preparedness in conjunction with the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.
A grant of $98,976, approved by the Hawthorne City Council, from the California Department of Housing and Community Development will support this endeavor. It aims to upgrade evacuation planning and encourage individual readiness for emergencies. A part of this ambitious project is a tri-city survey, available online in both English and Spanish, designed to gather resident inputs for strategizing regional evacuations.
- English: bit.ly/EmergencyPreparednessSurveyy
- Spanish: bit.ly/PreparacionparaEmergencias
The task list to achieve these goals includes surveying residents, planning and implementing regional evacuation procedures, posting bilingual emergency preparedness guides, and promoting the statewide annual Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill. Scheduled Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) classes in English and Spanish will also be part of the initiative.
Simi Valley Mayor, Fred Thomas asserts how critical resident safety and emergency preparedness is, endorsing the combined effort of the three cities. His statement underlines the necessity for self-preparedness, stating, "Our first responders are going to be overwhelmed during such events, greater resident readiness promises safer communities."
For further technical information and resources regarding emergency preparedness, representatives from the Simi Valley Office of Emergency Services will be present at the Simi Valley Street Fair on October 28 at the Simi Valley Town Center. Furthermore, emergency management web pages of the three cities offer downloadable Emergency Preparedness Packet:
- Moorpark: www.moorparkca.gov/EM
- Thousand Oaks: www.toaks.org/emergency
- Simi Valley: www.simivalley.org/emergencyservices
