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Committee flags gaps in SMC alerts after Rastadero fire, urges layered alerting
Summary
Ray briefed the committee on new AM-radio messaging and concatenated messages; members raised concerns that SMC alerts lacked road-closure detail during the Rastadero fire and discussed relying on Watch Duty and sheriff notifications for live, detailed incident information.
Ray said the communications subcommittee has deployed a new message manager that concatenates public-safety messages (wildfire guidance, house-cleaning messages and evacuation instructions) and that Selena recorded an evacuation message for broadcast. He said the system now cycles messages back-to-back and is functioning as intended.
Members raised a concern that an SMC alert during the Rastadero fire did not explicitly state that a road remained closed, causing confusion for a member returning from Palo Alto. "The SMC alert didn't indicate that the road was still closed," one committee member said; Selena responded that road-closure details are typically the sheriff's responsibility (Santa Clara County) and that the committee recommends residents subscribe to Watch Duty for live updates.
Ray and Selena agreed the committee should aim for layered alerting (SMC, AM radio, Watch Duty) and to clarify procedures for what gets included in each alert channel going forward.
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