Sonoma County Evacuation, Nixle Alerts not Amber Alerts
Napa, Sonoma counties did not issue Amber Alert-style warnings. Sonoma County could have sent out an emergency mass-blast alert to every cellphone in the region, but chose not to, saying the overkill alarm would have hampered emergency efforts. Instead, Sonoma County alerted people through Nixle alerts that notified people via cellphone, or email But people had to have signed up for those services.
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County officials are defending their decision.
Late Thursday afternoon there were 15 dead in Sonoma County — more than half the 29 total fatalities so far — and 400 people were listed as missing. County officials said putting out a mass cellphone alert would have done more harm than good because the area covered by such an alarm can’t be restricted and far more people would have been alerted than were actually in harm’s way, causing the potential for panic.
“It would cause unnecessary evacuations and delays for emergency vehicles reaching people in areas in need,” said county spokeswoman Jennifer Larocque. “In order not to slow down response to people actually in need of help, we chose not to send the notice.”
Instead, Sonoma County alerted people through Nixle alerts — the first one of those electronic messages was sent at 10:51 p.m. — and a system called SoCo Alerts that notifies people via cellphone, But people have to sign up for those services. They also used a “reverse 911” system that calls landlines in an affected area and hit up homes the old fashioned way.
“We had deputies out there walking unincorporated areas and areas we serve, knocking on doors and letting them know to evacuate,” Larocque said. “That’s the ideal scenario — boots on the ground, letting people know what their options are.”
It’s not certain how effective the additional alert would have been in Sonoma County; cellphone reception for many went out when towers were torched in the fire.
While Sonoma officials said it was an all-or-nothing regional alert decision, other jurisdictions have more specificity about areas that can be issued a warning.
According to the Federal Communications Commission factsheet, alerts are generally sent to a “geographic area no larger than the county or counties affected” but “participating carriers may be able to target alerts to smaller areas.”