Full Notification

Subject: New Evacuation Planning Toolkit Now Available to Help the Community Prepare for Emergencies and Know When to Go The City of Santa Rosa has developed a new evacuation planning toolkit to help community members better prepare in the event of an emergency evacuation. The toolkit can be accessed online at srcity.org/knowyourwaysout Community members can access the following resources within the toolkit: Evacuation Planning Area Maps Using a searchable map, community members can retrieve an Evacuation Planning Area Map for the neighborhood or geographical area in which they reside. This map identifies all the recommended routes that may be used during an evacuation. Oftentimes the safest route out may not be the typical route traveled, therefore, the City urges residents to know all their ways out ahead of time and listen for instructions from emergency personnel on which way to go when asked to evacuate. Pre-Evacuation Checklist A downloadable checklist offering important pre-evacuation steps to take to better protect people, pets, and property if time allows before leaving. Residents are advised to keep the checklist visible in locations such as near the front door or on the refrigerator so it’s easy to find when needed. Evacuation alerting tools information (including Hi/Lo Sirens) Overview of the different ways public safety officials will notify community members in the event of an evacuation. Following suit with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and other neighboring counties, the City has recently outfitted Santa Rosa police and fire department vehicles with Hi/Lo sirens to be used as an additional way to alert the community in the event of an evacuation as certain emergency conditions could limit the City’s ability to reach community members using traditional alert and warning tools. Hi/Lo sirens offer a different sound than traditional public safety vehicle sirens and will only be used in an emergency to alert residents within specific areas of the need to evacuate. A brief video message from Police Chief Navarro introducing the Hi/Lo sirens can be found on the website. If you hear the Hi/Lo, it’s time to go. Additional preparedness tips and FAQs can also be found within the evacuation website. This toolkit is phase one of a two-part public outreach campaign. Beginning in early 2020, the City will launch phase two consisting of several planned evacuation drills with specific neighborhood areas. To explore the evacuation planning toolkit, please visit srcity.org/knowyourwaysout.