Westminster Issues October Preparedness Bulletin: ShakeOut Drill at 10:15 A.M. Oct. 15, Free Sandbags Limited to 12 Per Resident
Westminster is a city in Orange County, California. The City of Westminster in Orange County has issued its October Emergency Preparedness Bulletin, covering seven topics: the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill, storm-season preparation, free sandbags, outage and emergency alerts, flood insurance, a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan survey, and police volunteer recruitment.
For the earthquake drill, the city will take part in the annual Great ShakeOut, scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at 10:15 a.m., when participants practice the "Drop, Cover and Hold On" protective actions. FEMA has announced the 2026 Great ShakeOut for October 15 at 10:15 a.m. local time nationwide. The bulletin also introduces the MyShake app, which delivers earthquake early warnings.
On storm preparation, the bulletin says a strong El Niño is expected this winter, potentially bringing heavy rain, coastal flooding and strong winds; California's governor has previously declared a statewide state of emergency for the El Niño season. During inclement weather, Westminster residents can pick up free sandbags at the Municipal Corporation Yard (14381 Olive St., Westminster), limited to 12 bags per resident, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., with identification showing proof of residency; the yard's phone number is (714) 895-2876.
For alerts, the bulletin explains how to register for AlertOC, Orange County's mass emergency notification system, which sends emergency voice, text and email messages from the county and cities. Southern California Edison (SCE) customers can also subscribe through the Preference Center in their account to outage and Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) alerts by email, text or voice call.
Among the other items, the city is updating its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) and has posted a resident survey on its website asking about past experience with natural hazards and suggestions for the plan. On flood insurance, the bulletin notes that standard homeowners policies do not cover flood damage and that flood policies typically take 30 days to take effect, and it links to California Department of Insurance flood insurance resources.
The Westminster Police Department is recruiting community volunteers for non-hazardous law enforcement support roles — including community events, patrol and detective support, fleet maintenance, crime scene assistance and data entry — with a goal of expanding the volunteer team to more than 30 people in the coming year. According to the department's volunteer program page, applicants must have a high school diploma or GED, pass a background investigation and provide a medical clearance letter from a physician; volunteers serve at least 16 hours per month, and uniforms and training are provided. The contact email is PD-PSU@westminster-ca.gov and the phone number is (714) 548-3771.
Source: City of Westminster official website (westminster-ca.gov) — October 2026 Emergency Preparedness Bulletin, Storm Preparedness Guide, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan page and Police Department volunteer program page.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 威斯敏斯特市政厅。Deathlock97 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，维基共享资源
