Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services urges residents to 'Be Mendo Ready' and sign up for alerts

The Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services aired a prerecorded public-safety announcement urging residents to prepare a family evacuation plan and individual "go bags," gather important documents near those kits, and maintain a 72-hour emergency kit.

"It's our 1 stop shop for emergency information," the Office of Emergency Services spokesperson said in the message, directing listeners to mendoready.org for a plan template, pre-established evacuation zone maps and sign-up links for Nixle and Mendo alerts.

Why it matters: the announcement framed evacuations as a likely response to local disasters such as wildfire and said early preparation buys time for families forced to leave quickly. The PSA specifically recommended that every household member have a separate go bag and that documents needed for an evacuation be stored with those kits.

Details provided in the announcements included a checklist of supplies for disaster kits, links to tools such as California wildfire cameras and Caltrans road-condition cameras, and a reminder to sign up for county alert systems. The message repeated that not every emergency requires evacuation but stressed that a properly stocked emergency kit supports self-sufficiency for 72 hours.

The PSA also included a separate environmental reminder from a stormwater campaign urging residents to scoop pet waste, limit over-irrigation and prevent runoff to local creeks (see streetstocreeks.org). The county's preparedness message and stormwater tips played before and between the Board's procedural business.

The prerecorded material did not solicit public comment; it concluded before the Board moved on to closed-session items.