Emergency Preparedness
In the event of a major disaster, you can be sure that the City of San Carlos is doing all it can to ensure public safety, and is working hard to restore services and return our community to normal.
But remember, disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home, and your family may be without basic services like water, gas, electricity, and telephones, or access to stores and other services for several hours or days. While public safety personnel will be on the scene after a disaster, they cannot reach everyone right away.
Therefore, the best way to make your family and your home safe is to be prepared before disaster strikes.
The San Carlos & Redwood City Fire Department urges everyone to be responsible for their own and their family's safety and emergency preparedness by taking the time now to plan for such a situation. It's recommended that people be self-reliant, that is, able to get along without any outside services or assistance, for five to seven days.
Emergency Kit Checklist
Emergency Alert System
Stay informed during an emergency situation with SMC ALERT
Sign up or login to your account here
The City of San Carlos is part of a Countywide program that offers emergency alerts to community members. The emergency alert system is called SMC ALERT. The alert notification system is used to immediately contact you during urgent or emergency situations. When you sign-up, you have the ability to customize and set alerts to send emergency and non-emergency text and voice messages to:
Ways to Sign Up
What features are included when I sign up?
SMC Alert is offered through an emergency communications systems vendor Everbridge, Inc. and features include:
Alert types may include life safety, fire, weather, accidents involving utilities or roadways, or disaster notification such as an earthquake or terrorist attack.
Emergency Situations:
In an emergency situation, an alert will be sent by San Carlos authorized personnel and you will receive alerts based on your profile preferences either to email, cell phone, text message or home phone. Read these messages promptly and follow the instructions. Additional instructions may follow throughout the emergency situation so keep your phone near you. Even if the cell phones are busy, text messages should still come through to your phone.
When you do receive an alert message, please follow the instructions on that message. Please do NOT call 911 or an Emergency Communications Center as they are already aware of the emergency -- and your call will tie-up precious resources, further endangering the emergency situation. We will make every effort to update websites in real time with more information about the emergency. In addition, you should tune to local TV and radio.
Sign up or login to your account here
The City of San Carlos is part of a Countywide program that offers emergency alerts to community members. The emergency alert system is called SMC ALERT. The alert notification system is used to immediately contact you during urgent or emergency situations. When you sign-up, you have the ability to customize and set alerts to send emergency and non-emergency text and voice messages to:
- email accounts
- cell phones, smartphones, tablets
- voice messages to landline phones (home & work)
Ways to Sign Up
- Visit smcalert.info
- Text your zip code to 888777
What features are included when I sign up?
SMC Alert is offered through an emergency communications systems vendor Everbridge, Inc. and features include:
- Customizable alerts including public safety, wildlife and road closure notifications
- Map-based technology
- Property notifications to smaller neighborhoods based on a user’s location
Alert types may include life safety, fire, weather, accidents involving utilities or roadways, or disaster notification such as an earthquake or terrorist attack.
Emergency Situations:
- Notify community members of the location of the nearest emergency shelter, available bed space, hours of operation during a crisis
- Notify community members of available evacuation routes during an emergency
- Activate special public safety teams within the community, based upon an event
- Severe weather warnings
- Activate a community watch group if mischievous activity is reported by the police
- Precautionary evacuation order if on high alert
- Planned Events, like parades and construction
In an emergency situation, an alert will be sent by San Carlos authorized personnel and you will receive alerts based on your profile preferences either to email, cell phone, text message or home phone. Read these messages promptly and follow the instructions. Additional instructions may follow throughout the emergency situation so keep your phone near you. Even if the cell phones are busy, text messages should still come through to your phone.
When you do receive an alert message, please follow the instructions on that message. Please do NOT call 911 or an Emergency Communications Center as they are already aware of the emergency -- and your call will tie-up precious resources, further endangering the emergency situation. We will make every effort to update websites in real time with more information about the emergency. In addition, you should tune to local TV and radio.
Disaster Preparation Resources
Disaster Preparedness Training Programs
- "Are You Ready?" is a one-to-two hour single class that provides the basics of what to do before, during, and after a disaster.
- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program offers a series of classes (20 hours total) during which you'll learn more in-depth, crucial information about fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, disaster medical operations, and more.
- SMCReady (disaster preparation information and resources from San Mateo County)
- San Mateo County Health Services Agency (includes a "pocket guide" to emergency preparedness)
- American Red Cross
- Ready.Gov
- National Fire Protection Association
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Federal Emergency Management Agency flood information
- Creek Cleanup
- Disaster Preparedness
- The Red Cross offers information on tsunamis and ideas for preparation [PDF]