NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and the Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services will be conducting a countywide emergency notification exercise as part of a regional tsunami warning communications test on Oct. 18.
The exercise will take place from 11 a.m. to noon, according to Emergency Services Coordinator Rick Ehlert.
Ehlert said community members who have not already registered for the Mendocino County Alert and Notification System are urged to do so before the Oct. 18 test date to participate in the exercise and ensure they can receive the county’s emergency notifications.
Community members can register for the Alert and Notification System at the OES Web site at www.MendocinoCounty.org/OES and click on the registration link at the bottom of the page, Ehlert said.
He said residents must register and opt-in to receive emergency notifications to their cell phones and other devices. Some landline phone numbers are automatically imputed into the system, but to ensure emergency notifications are received all residents are urged to register.
This is the primary system which is used to communicate with the public during times of emergency. Ehlert said it is vital residents register to ensure they get important time sensitive information.
Ehlert said the Oct. 18 alert and notification test will send a test notification to all registered community members countywide via their preferred communication method (text message, voice phone call, or email) and to most land lines. This message will clearly state that the notification is only a test and not a real emergency.
Additionally, on Oct. 18 between 11 a.m. and noon the National Weather Service office in Eureka will be conducting a Tsunami Warning Communications Test in Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties, according to Ehlert.
If you are listening to the radio, you may hear alerting tones followed by a voice announcing that the test is occurring. Ehlert said if you have a NOAA weather radio with the Public Alert feature, the radio will automatically turn on and you will hear the same message as broadcast on radios.
In some areas, you may also hear the sounding of a tsunami siren, or an airplane testing its public address system. The tsunami sirens in Noyo Harbor, Pudding Creek, and Point Arena Cove are planned to be activated and will sound for approximately one to three minutes, Ehlert said.
To register or learn more about the Mendocino County Alert and Notification System, including a list of frequently asked questions, please visit www.MendocinoCounty.org/OES.
REGIONAL: Mendocino County officials plan October emergency exercise
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