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/
The Balboa Island Ferry, one of our most iconic Newport Beach tourism experiences, could be no more.
If that sounds dramatic, it is. I can’t imagine our city without the ferry, but unless something is done, this treasured piece of our city could be gone in less than two years.
Thousands of locals and visitors use the ferry every year and it’s a vital part of our culture and history. It is part of what makes us Newport Beach, and in my mind, it is as important as our beaches. But all of that is now threatened and could be lost.
Representatives from the Surfrider Foundation North Orange County Chapter recently presented the City with a generous donation of $12,415 toward the purchase and installation of a new marine trash skimmer for Newport Harbor. The donation will be used to offset the $18,000 cost of a new trash skimmer that will replace an older, broken skimmer located at the Rhine Wharf public dock.
City leaders gathered at Marina Park on Sunday to remember the first anniversary of the death of Huntington Beach Police Officer Nick Vella off the Lido Peninsula.
“The city of Newport Beach is honored to celebrate the life and sacrifice of Officer Pilot Vella. His bravery and valor shall be remembered forever.” – Newport Beach Mayor Noah Blom
This week I’d like to recognize critical, often unsung members of our City team who perform a vital service during rainstorms: the Utilities Department crews that pump storm water and operate the tide valves on Balboa Island and the Peninsula.
The valves, which were built in the 1970s to replace a system from the early 1900s, are necessary to prevent flooding in low-lying areas. They are manually operated, and need to be closed during high tides to prevent seawater from flooding the streets. Once the tide recedes, crews reopen the valves — nearly 90 in total — to allow water to flow from streets to the bay.
In some ways, on some days, we all live trashy lives.
Even an inadvertently dropped gum wrapper via the forces of gravity, wind, and water runoff finds itself in company with all manner of discarded detritus heading to our oceans and beaches.
Trash is strictly a human byproduct. Just walk Newport’s sands after a crowded summer day. Or stand by the outflow of the Santa Ana River, or the entrance to the Upper Bay estuary post-storm to witness the “flood” of trash tangled in broken foliage washed downstream, to either float offshore, rest on our beaches or become locked in the life-giving vegetation of the Back Bay.
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