Malibu Prepares Emergency Information Distribution System

MALIBU, CA — City staff and members of the Malibu Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) practiced setting up an emergency information station on July 20 as part of community-wide emergency preparedness efforts, the City of Malibu announced Monday.

"It will be part of the City’s emergency supplies Points of Distribution (POD) program in anticipation of needing a system to distribute public information across Malibu in the event of a long-term power outage," the City said in a press release.

A POD is a location where community members can obtain basic emergency supplies. Public Safety staff and CERT Team members have been evaluating Malibu's emergency supply bins and restocking them since the Woolsey Fire. Additional equipment and supplies were needed to set up emergency information stations as part of this effort.

"Electronic communications have given us many powerful tools, but society’s ever-increasing dependence on them has also created vulnerabilities, so we need to have practical, low-tech solutions that will work without electricity, computers and cell phones," said Mayor Jefferson Wagner. "We can’t anticipate every challenge in a disaster, but we already know about the problems that power and cell phone outages pose and we are working on strategies to address them."

The emergency information stations are part of the City Manager's and Public Safety Manager's effort to develop ways for distributing critical emergency information to the Malibu community during disasters if electricity and cell phone services are out, which happened during the Woolsey Fire. This strategy may also be needed if Southern California Edison (SCE) implements their Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) plan, in which they may cut off power in high fire-risk areas, such as Malibu, during extremely hazardous fire conditions to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires. The City objects to the PSPS plan, but it is likely that it will be implemented at some point during fire season, the statement said.

CERT Team leaders and City staff trained other CERT volunteers on procedures and protocols for setting up a POD with an emergency information station. The bins include bullhorns, pop-up tents, “Disaster Information” signage and bulletin boards for displaying printed material. During a long-term power outage, printed public information will be brought out to the boards every day. These locations will be publicized once they are finalized.

In addition to the bulletin boards, the City will put out emergency information on KBUU 99.1 FM, Malibu’s only locally-operated radio station. Anyone with an FM radio can tune in to get emergency information. The City will also record emergency information on the Emergency and Traffic Hotline, which anyone can call in to at 310-456-9982.

On September 14, as part of National Preparedness Month, the City and the CERT team will conduct a public demonstration of the PODs with the emergency information station as a drill for the Team and to raise community awareness of the system.

To sign up for the City’s disaster and evacuation alerts through Everbridge, visit www.MalibuCity.org/DisasterNotifications. For more information or assistance with signing up for Everbridge, call Public Safety Manager Susan Dueñas at 310-456-2489 ext. 313 or email SDuenas@MalibuCity.org.