Even with Santa Barbara County’s history of wildfires and extreme weather events, only 21% of local residents have signed up for the ReadySBC emergency alert system.

That was one of the facts shared on Wednesday during a tour of the county’s Emergency Operations Center, where staff manage alerts for the system and coordinate the response during natural disasters and other major incidents.

The tour was hosted by the Office of Emergency Management as part of National Emergency Management Awareness Month, which was created to teach the public how the county keeps them safe during a disaster.

The office will host a second tour of the facilities from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 29 at 4408 Cathedral Oaks Road.

“We’re really trying to bring awareness to the community as to what emergency management is, the role that it plays during emergencies,” OEM public information officer Jackie Ruiz told Noozhawk. “Also, the role that it plays when there is an emergency, so that means preparedness, mitigation, coordination (and) collaboration with partners.”

In the event of a natural disaster, representatives from different agencies gather at the center and organize response logistics and public information.

Ruiz explained that the county’s emergency managers come from diverse backgrounds, including animal services, behavioral wellness, public health, water, and even the military.

OEM Director Kelly Hubbard guided tours of the expanded Emergency Operations Center to show off the incident management room, the joint information center and the call center.

The call center is where the staff answer calls from residents looking for information or updates. Calls can range from information about wildfires, earthquakes and even tsunamis, according to Ruiz.

One of the top concerns now is the potential for a strong El Niño, which could bring heavy rain later this year.

Even though residents can call directly, the other option for the most up-to-date news is through ReadySBC.org, the office’s website, and the ReadySBC emergency alerts.

Ruiz stated that across the entire county, most of the people signed up for the alerts are in the South County near Santa Barbara. She said that is most likely because people in the south have experienced more disaster events.

“That’s where you’re going to go to get information during any type of emergency in Santa Barbara County, and then also if there are recovery efforts after an emergency, that’s the place to get your information,” Ruiz said.

As of August, 97,078 people are signed up for the alerts out of the county’s entire population.  

Along with alerts sent directly to their phones or emails, residents can also visit the county website and check for updates based on their address.

Ruiz said residents who are signed up for alerts should double-check that their address is updated. She said people tend to move a lot in Santa Barbara, and their address may not reflect the zone in which they live.

“Make sure that your ReadySBC alerts is updated with that information and those addresses, so that we can actually reach you during an emergency,” she said.

In addition to touring the office’s main center, residents were invited to visit booths outside of the building with representatives from different agencies.

Government representatives included the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, the National Weather Service, and the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria and Santa Maria.

Also in attendance was the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council, which provided information and tips to residents on how to protect their homes.

The booth walked through quick and inexpensive steps that residents can take to protect their homes. One example was replacing vents on the outside of homes with new, smaller mesh with holes less than 1/8 of an inch.

The smaller mesh can help prevent embers from wildfires from entering through the vents and starting a fire in a home.

An estimated 74% of structure fires during a wildfire are caused by embers entering through vents, according to Juliet Costell, county coordinator for the council.

Costell added that residents can also sign up for free home inspections by an expert evaluator to assess how prepared their home is in case of a wildfire. Residents can sign up at sbfiresafecouncil.org.

“It’s completely free. It’s completely non-regulatory and confidential,” Costell said. “It’s just purely for informational purposes, so that you can know what the retrofits you can make to your home to make them more wildfire efficient.”