Temecula emergency manager outlines zone-based evacuation plan, urges residents to register for alerts

Mike Alford, Temecula, the city emergency manager, told residents at a public meeting that Temecula is developing a zone-based evacuation plan designed to move people incrementally and avoid overloading freeway routes.

Alford said the plan is roughly 75% complete, covers 75 numbered zones and uses two-page "zone sheets" for each area that list maps, primary and secondary routes, nearby shelters and assembly points, and special considerations for livestock and residents with access and functional needs. "There are 75 zones in Temecula," Alford said, noting the city has identified assembly points intended primarily for people without vehicles, including the Walmart and Target parking lots, MSJC and the mall.

Why it matters: Temecula lies in a high-risk region for both wildfires and flood scenarios. Alford cited a modeled Vail Lake dam rupture that he said could send a wall of water into parts of the city in about 18 minutes and estimated 14,798 homes fall inside the inundation zone (about 35,000 people at 2.5 persons per home). Those and other scenarios, he said, motivated the council to accelerate a plan that…