Malibu homeowners associations are taking action to protect their homes and lives from natural disasters.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
If the fire of early January this year, which ate up five beachfront homes and caused more than $50 million in damages, taught residents anything, it’s that Malibu cannot be too prepared to deal with the emergency of natural disasters.
As Brad Davis, the city of Malibu’s emergency services coordinator, said, “I think what Katrina proved is that the only method to prepare effectively for emergencies is through a strong partnership between rescue agencies and individuals. People have to take a hand in preserving their own well being.”
Accordingly, some individuals have taken creative steps toward protecting their communities. Malibu homeowners associations are taking the lead in educating their members about the vital need to prepare for unthinkable contingencies.
Judi Devin is the coordinator for emergency preparedness for a Latigo Cove HOA. Noting that “Malibu is disaster central,” she recently organized a two-hour workshop for Latigo and Malibu Cove Colony residents in the essential art of preparedness knowledge.
“After last January’s fire, we had an assessment done and it showed that people had become very complacent,” Devin said. “Vegetation was overgrown. Evacuation routes were blocked and no one had any idea of what to do in an emergency.”
Consequently, last Saturday’s workshop addressed a methodical approach to the old Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared,” with bullet-point information, checklists and tools. Emergency Coordinator Davis, who formerly worked for FEMA and served at huge natural disasters like Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina and the Rodeo-Chediski fire in Arizona, addressed the crowd of both older residents and newcomers to Malibu.
“My most important message is to have a plan and rehearse it,” Davis said. “People think that since they survived the ’93 fire it’s OK to stay and fight another. But if a wall of fire suddenly confronts you 200 feet high and think, ‘Gee, maybe I should have evacuated,’ you are only going to block emergency vehicles when you try to escape. You need an evacuation plan, you need supplies and you need to know where to go for information. And you need to evacuate.”
Davis said an indispensable tool to have in any evacuation kit is a battery-operated or hand-cranked radio. “Malibu has a low-watt AM station [AM1620] that provides emergency information,” Davis said. “And you can call the city hotline.”
How to prepare
“Let’s start with simple notification of an impending disaster,” Devin said. “If your phone number is not on the city’s notification list, they won’t know to contact you. There was a tsunami warning here in Malibu a couple of years ago and no one knew. We now have a siren in Latigo Cove.”
Devin also emphasized the importance of the city’s vehicle identification program. “If you are outside of Malibu when there’s a fire and you want to return to your home, emergency services will not let you through on PCH unless you have a Dolphin sticker on your car.”
In addition to an evacuation plan, the most important aspects of emergency preparedness are supply kits and a “grab and go” bag with important papers, Devin said. “That would include not only your emergency contact numbers, medicines and insurance stuff, but pet vaccination records. If you have a pet decal on your car, fire departments can go in and rescue animals.”
Small supply kits should include water, protein bars, medical supplies, a flashlight and a radio-and be kept in your car.
Lou La Monte is the president of the Big Rock HOA, which is also preparing ahead of time for disasters. “We hired a fire consultant and work with coordinators at Station 70,” he said. “There no longer is a fire ‘season.’ It’s twelve months of the year.”
“The most important factor in saving homes from fire is brush clearance-absolutely, 100 percent,” La Monte said. The trick is to get everyone in the neighborhood to do it.”
The Big Rock HOA applied for grants from the U.S. Forestry Service and the Los Angeles Department of Forestry for neighborhood brush clearance. “In 2003, we brought goats in to eat all the brush,” La Monte said. “But this year, it’s too dry for even the goats to eat.”
Instead of “quadruped maintenance” this year, they are bringing in a “masticator” machine to eat about 30 acres, followed by hand clearance.
Devin said that the Latigo Cove HOA issued a “30 Day Challenge to Emergency Preparedness” to all attendees at Saturdays’ workshop. “It’s a check list of 12 things for residents to do now, including an emergency preparedness plan, a communications plan, instructions for creating supply kits and suggestions for evacuation routes with area-specific procedures,” she said.
Malibu’s Emergency News web page can be viewed at http://www.ci.malibu.ca.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=nav&navid=182. Brad Davis, emergency services coordinator: can be contacted at 310.456.2489, ext. 260. Malibu’s Emergency Hotline: 310.456.9982.