RIVERSIDE, Calif. — With 2.4 million residents and approximately 7,300 square miles, Riverside is the fourth most populated county in the state.
The sheer size makes it susceptible to natural disasters.
According to FEMA, Riverside County is at most risk for earthquakes and wildfires.
A new report by ClaimGuard.com named Riverside the third most disaster vulnerable county in the nation, just two behind Los Angeles, which took the top spot.
Shane Reichardt, who is a public information officer for the Riverside County Emergency Management Department, says measures used for the study and the ones used by FEMA’s index are not things they have control over, like insurance and the number of cars owned by residents.
“They include a lot of factors that what we’re doing here as an emergency management department, we’re not going to be able to move that needle. Our efforts are on making sure that we’re looking at variables or data points that really are impactful. How many days are schools closed? How many days are people missing from work? We’re looking at data that really does impact or show the impact of an emergency on the residents,” said Reichardt.
Still, the hazard risks exist and with that, he says, comes a detailed team approach to mitigate the impacts of these inevitable risks.
One of those partners is the Riverside County Fire Department, which has already battled a couple of vegetation fires as we approach peak wildfire season.
“We increase staffing during the peak. We’ll have a number of more fire engines available. We’re also in the process of completing several vegetation management programs across the county to try to reduce some of that fuel loading in some of those areas,” said Rob Roseen, public information officer with the Riverside County Fire Department.
He says, contrary to what many people might think, the heavy rains earlier in the year do not translate to a more tamed wildfire season. Instead, the vegetation growth from the rain mixed with dry heat is the perfect recipe for a wildfire.
“So we are creating a buffer for some of those areas by burning off that material now, so that when wildfire does come through, it gives a stopping point,” said Roseen.
Beyond wildfires, Reichardt says the county has programs intended to think ahead of what will be needed during an emergency. Among those is one that strategically places generators around the county in case of power outages.
But Reichardt says above all, communication is key to the success of their plans.
“Some of our most important mitigation measures right now are alerting the public to the danger. We’re working on the mountaintop radio project that is basically a system of sirens that will alert people to tune in to a radio station that will broadcast important information for that community,” said Reichardt.
He shares this is especially important for mountain communities that do not have strong cell signal or many escape route options to take.
Reichardt says they rely on residents being prepared as well, so that first responders can take care of the major impacts.
“What we do to prepare as a government is to make sure that we’re able to provide services to our residents and that we have a pretty aggressive preparedness program to take our preparedness message to the public,” said Reichardt.
They do this by providing emergency preparedness workshops in English and Spanish throughout the year.
Despite the efforts, he says the job is never done.
“It’s a nonstop process. We will never be 100% prepared for everything, partly because the needle is always moving. The hazards change, the population changes. There are a lot of different variables that make it really hard to be absolutely prepared for everything,” said Reichardt.