Newport Beach City Manager Update:
Emergency Preparedness
By Guest Contributor Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager – Sept 11, 2023
Source: Newport Beach Independent – https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-city-manager-update-emergency-preparedness-citizens-police-academy/
Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The fires in Maui and Hurricane Idalia in Florida serve as recent reminders that disasters can strike at any time. Throughout September, which has been designated as National Preparedness Month, the City of Newport Beach will highlight some of our emergency preparedness tools and practices, along with educational resources for residents to become better prepared.
If you are new to emergency planning, or could use a refresher, a great place to start is the “Newport Beach Ready” Emergency Preparedness Guide produced by our Fire Department. The guide contains critical information on water and food storage, building an emergency kit, evacuation checklists, basic first aid, animal preparedness, and tips on what to do in specific events.
The guide is in PDF form to allow for easier printing (we recommend residents print copies as references in the event of a power outage). Access is here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/66881/637260787861070000.
The City’s Disaster Preparedness website has additional information and videos on how to prepare for a variety of natural and man-made emergencies, such as earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, storm flooding, power outages, and acts of terrorism. It also includes a list of partner agencies, such as FEMA and b, along with links.
Access it here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/how-do-i/find/disaster-preparedness-information.
Other helpful resources include the City’s Emergency Operations Plan, which details the City’s response to an emergency event. Access is here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/72743/638059324946730000.
The Disaster Communications web page shows how to prepare to contact family and loved ones during an emergency: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/how-do-i/find/disaster-preparedness-information/disaster-communications.
If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to sign up for regional and local emergency notifications.
- Major Newport Beach and countywide emergency alerts will be broadcast through the AlertOC mass notification system, operated by the County of Orange in collaboration with local cities. Through AlertOC, time-sensitive voice messages from the County of Orange or Newport Beach can be sent to your home, cell, or business phone. Text messages can be sent to cell phones. AlertOC can also send messages to email accounts and TTY devices. https://member.everbridge.net/453003085613900/login.
- For Newport Beach emergencies, significant traffic impacts and police activities you can subscribe to the Police Department’s Nixle alerts or, even more simply, text your zip code to 888777 to opt-in. You can configure your Nixle account as desired to receive text messages, emails, and voice mails to cell phones and landlines. https://local.nixle.com/newport-beach-police-department.
- Please note that during a serious emergency, with a need to communicate life-saving information quickly, the City will utilize the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The WEA system sends text message alerts to all cell phones within a designated geographic area, with no sign-up or subscription required. Because it reaches all cell phones, residents and visitors alike, WEA is a critical component of the City’s emergency alert systems.
if you would like in-depth training on emergency preparedness, along with hands-on first aid and rescue techniques, consider joining Newport Beach’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, taught by City firefighters and lifeguards. The CERT training is designed to help residents assist themselves, their families and neighbors in the event of a major disaster where first responders may not be immediately available. You can go here for more information on CERT: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/government/departments/fire-department/life-safety-services-division/community-emergency-response-team-nbcert.
Outdoor Broadcast System Gives Emergency Warnings in Coastal Areas
Throughout National Preparedness Month, the City will highlight some of its emergency systems and practices. First up: the City’s Outdoor Warning Notification System.
The Outdoor Warning Notification System consists of three loudspeakers strategically located at West Jetty View Park (Wedge), Marina Park on Balboa Boulevard, and West Newport Park near 60th Street and Seashore Drive.
The system will be used to notify coastal neighborhoods and boaters in the event of a tsunami, major flooding, or other emergencies, including the need for evacuations. During an emergency event, the Newport Beach Police Department will activate the system and provide instructions through the loudspeakers, which are audible throughout the mapped areas shown below.
The system is tested on the first Friday of every month to ensure it is in a constant state of readiness. The next test of the system will be Friday, October 6 at noon.
Source: Newport Beach Independent – https://www.newportbeachindy.com/newport-beach-city-manager-update-emergency-preparedness-citizens-police-academy/
High Marks from Pumpout & Dump Station Monitoring Program
Southern California Clean Vessel Act Pumpout & Dump Station Monitoring Program
Recent surveys were conducted on the following Public Docks on Sep 27, 2022.
California Coastal Commission – SUMMARY OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Coastal Commission staff‘s reasons for recommending approval of the City of Newport Beach
Item 17a – Application No. 5-21-0640
The California Coastal Commission is preparing to consider permitting plans for an important Newport Harbor dredging project. The City of Newport Beach would like to remind residents about the critical need for this project and clarify key topics, including the rigorous environmental analysis that supports the proposal.
Dredging Newport Harbor is critical to maintain safe navigation and a well-functioning harbor. Over the past several decades, sediment has washed down into Newport Bay and accumulated at the bottom of Newport Harbor, which reduces water depths, impedes navigation and diminishes natural tidal flushing. Periodic dredging of Newport Harbor is essential to maintain safe, navigable waterways for recreational, commercial and public safety vessels; increase necessary ocean water flushing to support good water quality and habit and support the economic vitality of the harbor. In total, the project will dredge and remove about 1.2 million cubic yards of accumulated sediment, therefore returning the waterways to their original depths of -10 to -20 feet. Without dredging, sediment will continue to build up, making navigation more difficult and dangerous and decrease tidal flushing, leading to more stagnant water conditions.
To Residents, Yachtsmen and Newport Harbor Users:
The City of Newport Beach has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers for several years on a significant dredging project that will bring Newport Harbor to its authorized design depth which will enhance water quality, allow the bay to properly flush thus eliminating the need to dredge again for many years, remove some unsuitable materials that are lying on the floor of the bay today, and provide for the long term navigability of our harbor.
The Newport Beach City Council certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in May 2021 and directed staff to proceed with securing permits for the project. The EIR is posted on the City’s website here.
The Newport Harbor Foundation has learned that there are a few in the community that are spreading spurious misinformation about the project and the Newport Harbor Foundation believes that it is important that presenting those interested in the dredging project be provided with the facts.
Chairman Murray and Members of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board:
My name is Dennis Durgan and I serve as Chairman of the Newport Harbor Foundation. The Foundation was founded in 2019 for the purpose of preserving, protecting and enhancing Newport Harbor for the benefit of the City of Newport Beach, the homeowners on or near the bay, the commercial operators in the bay, and the recreational users of the bay. The Foundation’s founders, contributors, and members are made up of individuals and business who have a long history of using and enjoying the harbor and a vested interest in its enhancement and preservation for use by current and future generations. On behalf the Foundation and its Board of Directors, I am reaching out to you to express our support for the currently pending project for dredging of Newport Harbor and construction of the confined aquatic disposal (CAD) site.
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