Sonoma Ready Sonoma Strong: Community Preparedness Program

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Sonoma County has experienced complex and protracted disasters since 2017 including Wildfires (Tubbs, Nuns, Kincade, LNU Complex, Glass), Floods, and the current pandemic. In 2018 the County took action to prioritize preparedness and hired a Community Preparedness Manager to move residents to action, protecting lives and property in disaster. Using contemporary disaster communications theories this program has resulted in tangible metrics showing residents are taking preparedness seriously and getting ready as never before. For example, in a 2018 survey 36% of residents surveyed had Go Bags, in 2020 79.26% surveyed reported having a Go Bag. Visits to the Get Ready portion of SoCoEmergency have grown from 70,000 in 2019 to 320,000 in 2020. The bi-lingual program emphasizes empowerment of residents to take actions that will improve their outcomes in disaster. Messages through multiple media channels including trusted partners, and focuses on network development across county agencies, non-profits, and residents to improve preparedness at the local level. Partners include fire districts, law enforcement, COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster), Listos California, and local neighborhood preparedness efforts. While preparedness is ongoing, results from the first 18 months of the new program are encouraging and show that Sonoma County is Sonoma Ready.