In the wake of the Jan. 9 mudslide that devastated Monetico neighborhoods, Santa Barbara County has unveiled new disaster preparedness policies to improve communication between the county and citizens.

The new policies include a 72-hour evacuation timeline, an interactive county map and new storm evacuation definitions. Residents can type their address into the map to determine whether they are in a high-risk area.

“We have to continue to get better and learn more from every disaster,” said Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams at a press conference. “We want to prepare this community for the next event and for the continued clean-up.”

The county is urging citizens to sign up for alerts to ensure that they are aware of any weather changes.

Associate Vice Chancellor John Longbrake said in an email that “unfortunately” only about 4,000 students subscribe to text alerts for UCSB Alerts. He encouraged students to sign up to receive these alerts at alert.ucsb.edu.

To read more of Tamari Dzotsenidze and Hayley Tice's article, visit: http://dailynexus.com/2018-02-...saster-preparedness/