California was unprepared to help vulnerable during fires

Five years ago, when Covid-19 struck the state, legislators canceled a hearing to discuss a State audit This was found by the Emergency Services Office and at least three California Counts were not ready to help vulnerable people during natural disasters.

This hearing finally took place on Wednesday.

He was led by Assembly John Harabedianwhich chairs the joint legislative audit committee and whose district includes neighborhoods affected by Eaton Fire in southern California in JanuaryS

He said that disproportionate deaths from this fire were older residents and people with disabilities. They include the death of Altadan’s residents Anthony Mitchell -Sr. and his son Justin, who had cerebral palsy. The two died in anticipation of the evacuation.

Assembly RhodesiaA Democrat of a hundredth, which chairs the Emergency Management Committee and who has led the hearing, said the aim to hold the hearing now is to discuss what has changed after the audit and what gaps are left.

“Four years ago, the State Auditor issued a great warning: California was not ready to protect its most vulnerable inhabitants, even in the case of disaster. This report presented critical life -threatening gaps, “she said, adding that the legislature had taken some steps to deal with them. “Still today we are confronted with the same raw realities … California still does not protect the most vulnerable inhabitants of disasters.”

The December 2019 audit evaluated the preparation for the vulnerable population – adult adults, those with disabilities or those with limited English proficiency – in three districts that saw the most destructive or deadly fires in the history of the state at that time: Ventura County where a fire took place in 2017; Sonoma County, where the fires of the Sonoma Complex for 2017 took place; and Bt County, subject to fire at the camp in 2018.

Among the findings of the then auditor Elaine Vo:

• The three counties did not have full or updated plans to warn residents, evacuate or shelter them.
• The Bt and Sonoma counts did not use available technology that could send warnings to all mobile phones. Instead, employees sent signals to stationary and mobile signals only to those who had registered in advance.
• In the signals that were sent, Bt County did not make it clear that the message was coming from a reliable source, and the Sonoma County did not say what the threat of the signal was.
• The signals were only sent to English.
• Counties have not completed the estimates of the inhabitants of the county to understand who will be at risk or what resources are available to help them, such as affordable transport or shelter space.

No employees representing the Counts referred to in the audit appeared at the hearing. County employees did not respond to Calmatters requests.

And while the state defines local authorities as mainly responsible for emergency reactions, the State Auditor also noted that the governor’s emergency service has failed to provide the necessary resources to support the counties – including some measures required by law.

Howle found that the office did not provide guidance for identifying people with special access needs and did not post reports on lessons extracted from other natural disasters, for example.

“No part of the planning will guarantee success during a disaster, but I think the lack of planning is a factor to failure during a disaster,” said Grant Parks, who took over as a state auditor in 2022, “the hearing said.

Assembly Tom LakayA Republican from Palmdale, who requested the initial audit, said he was glad that the legislature was abandoning the discussion again.

“The fires will continue to blaze and we must make sure that we do not let people die when we could protect them through public policy and processes,” he told Calmatters. “We have to make sure that we are conducting these discussions so that we can continue to protect our people.”

Have emergency evacuations improved?

While the legislature has not reviewed the report of five years, the state and the selected counties have taken some steps to implement Auditor recommendationsS

The legislature has adopted a law In 2020, the requirement of the Emergency Services Service to review at least 10 district plans each year to ensure that local authorities are ready to defend the most at risk during natural disasters.

The agency announced that it has since made 32 reviews.

And in 2020, the agency created a working group that included people with access and functional needs and has since created training programs and has published documents for directing local authorities, according to Vance Taylor, head of the Access and Functional Service Division Service.

The agency has also developed a program called California This has created flyers and videos in different languages ​​and partnered with local communities to disseminate information about emergency readiness.

However, the storms that flooded parts of the Central Valley in 2023 showed that more work should be done, including enough staff that is competent in different languages, said Noe Paramo, director of the California Legal Aid Foundation in California.

Legislators noted other areas that they thought still needed more work.

Harabedian said that while plans for emergencies were reviewed at 32 counties, this leaves 26 counties unpaid.

“These are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, people with vulnerabilities who can still be harmful,” he said.

Ransom noted that while the State Agency creates resources as training courses, there is no requirement that the Counts are involved and there is no consequences for those who do not have current or adequate emergency plans.

“I know you all continue to mention that you are not a regulatory agency. I fully understand this, “she told representatives of the Emergency Service Service. “But there is still the opportunity to secure some supervision.”

According to the follow -up recommendations of the State Auditor, implemented by the Counts, the Bt and Ventura counties partially complied with their recommendation for updating emergency plans and Sonoma County.

Sonoma County also adopted an ordinance that emergency plans should be inspected at least once every five years. The Bt and Ventura counties refused to accept this recommendation.

All three districts refused to commit to following the best practices from the state and federal emergency services.

Yet, while progress has been made, Harabedian flag that such problems arise in the last fires.

Taylor, with access and functional needs service, said the Counts have made significant improvements over the last decade, and California is now leading the nation to be willing for vulnerable people.

“We are not ready to hang the banner to perform the mission,” he said. “We did a lot, but it still needs to be done.”