Hoping to ease confusion caused by a string of erroneous evacuation alerts sent across Los Angeles County on Thursday and Friday, Long Beach has launched its own emergency website.
The page includes real-time county and local alerts, weather updates and phone numbers to police and firefighters, mental health support and city utility departments. Maps provided through the county’s emergency management office and National Weather Service depict evacuation and hazard zones as well as nearby shelters.
The city has temporarily launched a hotline, with in-person telecallers available to answer questions at 562-570-INFO (4636). Center hours will run Friday until 10 p.m., opening again Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Officials said in a news release they hope the site will serve as a “centralized hub” for residents to get information on up-to-date air quality reports, health advisories and the locations of ongoing evacuation orders.
While 20 to 40 miles from the Los Angeles fires, smoke and ash heading downstream have bogged the city with unhealthy levels of smog or fine particles since Tuesday. Officials have advised Long Beach residents to remain indoors when possible.
In a separate news release, officials also urged residents to be careful about where they send their money and other donations: “In recent days, there has been an outpouring of compassion by people wanting to help those affected by the wildfires and, as in any emergency, scammers use the opportunity to take advantage.”
For those who believe they may have fallen victim to a scam, city police are asking people to call their non-emergency line at 562-435-6711. Scams can also be reported online to the Federal Trade Commission and FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
For a list of reputable organizations, visit the Long Beach Post’s guide here.
This comes after repeated notices to evacuate were wrongly sent on L.A.’s emergency system to residents countywide, including those miles from an active evacuation zone. Alerts were sent out Thursday afternoon and, for some, Friday morning at 4 a.m. and then 7 a.m.
In a statement on X, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Long Beach, proposed the county’s emergency alert system be disabled “until we get to the bottom of this issue.”
“Now more than ever we need to know that we can depend on our public information systems to keep people safe,” Hahn said in a statement posted on X. “That hasn’t been the case last night and this morning, and I’m frustrated too.”
County emergency officials apologized for the mix-up later Friday, explaining it was possibly a technical glitch caused by offline phone towers. They added that alerts will now come from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and insisted that residents do not disable or ignore future alerts.