Moragans set the bar for a calm, orderly evacuation of a portion of their town during a test of their emergency evacuation procedures last month and now, emergency services organizers say, it’s Orinda’s turn to take to the streets.
Officials have slated January 26 for an evacuation exercise from a section of North Orinda and, once again, they will be watching to see what goes well and what doesn’t.
The exercise will include a test of the Community Warning System (CWS) by sending notifications to those that have signed up to participate. The early-morning message will direct North Orinda residents to follow normal traffic patterns and obey traffic laws while driving from their homes to the intersection of Miner Road and Lombardy Lane. From the Lombardy/Miner intersection, law enforcement and CERT members will control traffic and direct the use of contra-flow traffic (both lanes will be Westbound only) along Miner Road to Camino Pablo. Once at Camino Pablo normal traffic flow will be used to the HWY 24 onramps. To facilitate the exercise, Miner Road will be closed to Eastbound traffic from 0700-0800. While the lessons learned will be relevant to the entire MOFD jurisdiction, the exercise is limited to residents of Sleepy Hollow, Dalewood (Orinda Downs), and Upper Miner. Observers will be posted along the route to record time, the number of vehicles, and identify areas subject to congestion.
Lamorinda CERT is looking for about 20 people to assist with traffic control, admitting those same folks may not be around in the event of a real emergency but hoping to have them on hand for the test run.
If you would like to participate as an evacuee instead of as a CERT traffic controller or evaluator, register for the January 26 exercise by going HERE.
Will you be sending out your flash alerts?
Ha! We wouldn’t want to scare anyone.
Maybe they should pave Camino Pablo first? It’s a wreck.