SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — Residents in Solano County have a new way to get emergency alerts and additional critical information on their area.
The Solano County Office of Emergency Services joined Zonehaven as part of their "Know Your Zone" campaign aiming to "better prepare residents and businesses for emergencies and evacuations."
What is Zonehaven?
Zonehaven is an online system with the goal to "save lives with tools that help communities and first responders more effectively plan, communicate, and execute evacuations," according to their website.
The new tool will be used countywide, in all cities and unincorporated areas.
The new system does not replace Alert Solano and they will be used hand-in-hand. Sign up to receive emergency notifications HERE.
"It's a good tool we have now that we didn't before," said Sergeant Rex Hawkins, spokesperson for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office. "Tools are only useful if you use them. More tools are better than less tools."
How to use Zonehaven:
The Zonehaven AWARE map — which can be found HERE and below — includes all evacuation zones outlined by emergency officials. To find your evacuation zone, type in your address or city in the search bar.
Each evacuation zone will have three letters, representing a city or the county's name, followed by a four digit code. Each zone has a unique number to prevent confusion about what alerts are for which zones.
Officials with OES strongly encourage residents know their evacuation zone name so they can understand alerts and react to emergency information faster.
"I cannot stress the importance of residents knowing their zones," said Hawkins, going on to say Zonehaven is a more user-friendly experience and will mostly be used for evacuations.
In the event of an emergency, first responders and officials will use Zonehaven to assist in issuing evacuations. Officials will then publish evacuation orders and zone statuses to Zonehaven AWARE and send emergency notifications via Alert Solano.
What alerts will be on Zonehaven?
Evacuations, road closings, fires, weather conditions, sand bag locations and more will be easily accessible.
Emergency alerts will be color coded on the map.
- Blue - Advisory
- Yellow - Evacuation warning (There is a potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and/or livestock are encouraged to leave now.)
- Red - Evacuation order (There is an immediate threat to life. It is a lawful order to leave now and the area is lawfully closed to public access. It is important to note that not all evacuation orders begin with an evacuation warning.)
- Green - Evacuation order lifted
Find more information about the Know Your Zone campaign and emergency response HERE.
