CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH
ALERTS AND WARNINGS
GUIDE
February 2026
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
1 The City of Manhattan Beach is committed to providing timely, accurate, and actionable information to protect life, property, and the environment during emergencies. An effective alert and warning system is a critical component of the City’s overall emergency management and public safety strategy.
This Alert and Warning Guide outlines how the City disseminates emergency information to residents, businesses, visitors, and partner agencies before, during, and after an incident. It describes the methods used to notify the public, the types of alerts that may be issued, and the actions individuals should take upon receiving an alert or warning.
Manhattan Beach utilizes multiple communication platforms, including regional emergency notification systems, to ensure information is delivered as quickly and broadly as possible.
These systems are used to communicate a wide range of hazards, including but not limited to earthquakes, tsunamis, severe weather, hazardous materials incidents, and other threats to public safety.
Residents and community members are encouraged to familiarize themselves with this guide, make arrangements for emergencies, and register for official emergency alerts. Public preparedness and awareness, combined with coordinated emergency response efforts, strengthen the City’s ability to respond effectively and enhance community resilience during emergencies.
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
What are Public Warning, Alerts, Orders, and Notifications? ............................................................... 3 California Standard Statewide Evacuation Terminology ....................................................................... 4 Types of Communication .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Alert SouthBay .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Genasys ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (iPAWS) ........................................................................ 6 Emergency Alert System (EAS) ........................................................................................................................ 6 Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) .................................................................................................................... 6 Social Media .............................................................................................................................................................. 7 City Website................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Manhattan Beach TV ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 8 ENotifications/ENews ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Electronic Changeable Message Signs (CMS) ......................................................................................... 8 Public Address Systems and Emergency Vehicle Sirens ..................................................................... 8 Additional Tools ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Shake Alert ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Manhattan Beach CERT Association ............................................................................................................ 9 National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio ........ 9 Watch Duty ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 South Coast AQMD ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Chevron Fenceline Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 10 Beach Cities Caer .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Red Cross Emergency App ............................................................................................................................... 10
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
3 What are Public Warning, Alerts, Orders, and
Notifications?
HOW TO ISSUE ALERTS AND WARNINGS
To ensure an effective alert and warning program, a jurisdiction should closely coordinate and collaborate with all public safety agencies within the jurisdiction and neighboring communities to develop a shared understanding of the local alert and warning plan prior to an incident and coordinate and collaborate on specific alert and warning actions taken during an incident. To the best extent possible, warning messages should be distributed to all members of the communities who are at risk, including commuters, travelers and transient populations, people with disabilities and access or functional needs, non-English speakers, people in remote or isolated areas, older adults, people with limited technology, etc.
WHAT ARE PUBLIC WARNINGS, ALERTS, ORDERS, AND NOTIFICATIONS?
WARNING ALERTS ORDERS NOTIFICATIONS
Prior to incidents
At the beginning of and
during incidents with
ongoing immediate
threats.
During immediate
threats.
During and after
immediate threats.
Distribute guidance to the
public to take one or
more protective actions
to reduce losses or harm
Gain the attention of the
public and draw their
attention to a risk or
hazard.
Provide immediate
protective actions to
reduce activity and
presence in the area
Instruct immediate
protective actions and
provide ongoing
communications relevant
to an event to reduce
milling and encourage
public action. Convey
time-sensitive
information on response-
and recovery-related
services
Weather
watches/warnings, and
fire warnings
Active shooter and other
dangers, hazardous
materials concerns, 911
outages, AMBER alerts
Evacuation orders,
stay away/out of the
area orders, and
shelter in place
orders
Protective actions,
evacuation routes, boil-
water advisories, return-
from-evacuation notices,
area accessibility
updates
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
4 California Standard Statewide Evacuation Terminology
EVACUATION WARNING: Potential threat to life and/or property. Gather any important paperwork, medication, or essential needs. Those who require additional time to evacuate, including individuals with access or functional needs, and those with pets and livestock, should leave now.
EVACUATION ORDER: Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to leave now. The area is lawfully closed to public access. Failure to follow an evacuation order may endanger your life and the lives of others and may result in injury or death. Once you have left the area, you will not be able to return until local authorities lift the evacuation order.
SHELTER IN PLACE: Go indoors. Shut and lock doors and windows. Prepare to self-sustain until further notice and/or contacted by emergency personnel for additional directions.
Chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants may be released accidentally or intentionally into the environment. Should this occur, information will be provided by local authorities on television and radio stations on how to protect you and your family.
EVACUATION ORDER(S) LIFTED: The formal announcement of lifting evacuations in an area currently under evacuation.
HARD CLOSURE: Closed to all traffic except Fire and Law Enforcement.
SOFT CLOSURE: Closed to all traffic except Fire, Law Enforcement, and critical Incident resources (i.e., utility, Caltrans, City/County Roads, etc., or those needed to repair or restore infrastructure).
Types of Communication
ALERT SOUTHBAY
The City of Manhattan Beach has enhanced our emergency communication platform by partnering Alert SouthBay. Alert SouthBay is a regional integration notification platform with 15 cities in the South Bay that allows you to opt-in to receive notifications via phone calls, text messaging, e-mail, and more based on locations you care about. You can choose to receive notifications about events that may affect your home, workplace, family, schools, and more.
The notification system gives the Police, Fire, Emergency Management, and specific contract
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
5 cities the ability to deliver critical notifications to our community. The Alert SouthBay notification system replaces all existing notification systems, including NIXLE.
Please take a moment and register for alerts by visiting the Alert Southbay website at alertsouthbay.com, or by texting MBAlerts to 888777 . You can also download the app from your app store by searching for AlertSB and create a profile.
GENASYS
Genasys Protect is a mobile and web-based public safety platform that delivers real-time emergency information. It provides map-based awareness and location-specific updates to help communities stay safe.
GENASYS PROTECT www.manhattanbeach.gov/genasys
STATUS COLOR DESCRIPTION
EVACUATION
ORDER
Red
Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to leave now. The area is lawfully closed to public access.
EVACUATION
WARNING
Yellow
Potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock, should leave now.
SHELTER IN PLACE Purple
Go indoors. Shut and lock doors and windows. Prepare to self- sustain until further notice and/or contacted by emergency personnel for additional direction.
ADVISORY Blue
Be on alert and follow county recommendations.
EVACUATION
ORDER LIFTED
Light
Green
It is now safe to return to your home. Be aware of your surroundings.
NORMAL White
No current knowledge of active public safety incidents affecting your area.
TRAINING
Dark
Green
Emergency personnel training. No response necessary from residents. (Can also be used for virtual evacuations, such as when testing the Community Warning Systems.)
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
6 INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM (IPAWS)
IPAWS is a federally-managed system operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that enables authorized government officials to send emergency alerts through multiple channels, including: These alerts may only be issued by specifically authorized users who have submitted a written request outlining the justification and need for access. The user must also hold current FEMA certificates for the required training courses and have completed all initial onboarding requirements. Users must contact the on-call Duty Officer with Alert SouthBay to gain authorization to send the alert.
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS)
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that requires TV and radio broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service providers, direct broadcast satellite service providers, and wireline video service providers to offer the President of the United States the communications capability to address the American public during a national emergency. EAS can also be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information such as AMBER Alerts (for missing children), SILVER Alerts (for missing seniors), and emergency weather information targeted to specific areas.
WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT (WEA)
WEA gives authorized government alerting authorities the ability to send emergency messages through major mobile carriers. Authorities can send WEA alerts to people in specific areas. Everyone in the target area will receive the message on his or her mobile device (i.e., cell phone). WEA alerts look different from a typical text alert to differentiate them from regular notifications. They cause a unique alert tone and vibration, accompanied by a brief text notification displayed on the recipient’s mobile device. The public does not need to register for this service. WEA is an opt-out system. Mobile device users will receive the WEA notification unless they choose to deactivate the service on their mobile device.
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
7 SOCIAL MEDIA
Communications is a vital component of our City. We invite open dialogue between our residents, businesses, community organizations, and the City in hopes of inspiring our residents and community partners to further become involved in Manhattan Beach. We strive to keep our residents informed on the projects that affect their taxes and their lives, disseminate information during emergencies, and promote Manhattan Beach as a California beach town with a laid-back, classic, upscale, and family-friendly lifestyle.
Fortunately, technology gives our City a multitude of ways to communicate. Print, television, website, email, social media, text, and e-alerts are all communication channels we utilize to communicate with our residents, businesses, community organizations, and visitors.
SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ALERTS MBTV
City of Manhattan Beach
Fire Department
Parks and Recreation
Police Department
GoReach (push notifications)
Next Door (push notifications)
CITY WEBSITE
Emergencies can happen at any time—being prepared can make all the difference. The Manhattan Beach Police Department and Manhattan Beach Fire Department are committed
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
8 to helping residents, businesses, and visitors stay informed, equipped, and ready in the face of natural disasters, accidents, and other unexpected events. Our Emergency Preparedness resources provide vital information, planning tools, and training opportunities designed to build a safer, more resilient community. Whether you're looking to create a family emergency plan, learn CPR, or get involved with local response efforts, this is your starting point.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: www.manhattanbeach.gov/EmergencyPreparedness CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH: www.manhattanbeach.gov
MANHATTAN BEACH TV (MBTV)
The City provides live and on-demand video services to residents and viewers through Spectrum Channel 8, Frontier Channel 35, and the City's website. To watch online, visit www.manhattanbeach.gov/MBTV click Live Streaming Video.
ENOTIFICATIONS/ENEWS
The City of Manhattan Beach offers eNews updates to keep you informed about news, events, and important information. By subscribing, you’ll receive timely updates directly in your inbox, making it easier than ever to stay connected with your community.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: www.manhattanbeach.gov/enews
ELECTRONIC CHANGEABLE MESSAGE SIGNS (CMS)
The City has portable electronic changeable message signs that can be deployed throughout Manhattan Beach to warn motorists and pedestrians of hazards, road closures, evacuation routes, and other emergency information. These signs are particularly effective for reaching people traveling through the community who may not be registered for other alert systems.
PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS AND EMERGENCY VEHICLE SIRENS
Manhattan Beach Police and Fire Department vehicles are equipped with public address systems and sirens that can be used to issue warnings and instructions during widespread emergencies. This method is particularly effective for evacuation orders, hazardous materials incidents, and situations requiring immediate protective action from residents in specific areas.
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
9 Additional Tools
SHAKE ALERT
Earthquake Early Warning Receive timely, potentially life-saving early warning alerts in California, Oregon and Washington. MyShake uses the USGS ShakeAlert (earthquake.usgs.gov/data/shakealert/) system to deliver alerts for earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 (or greater) several seconds before shaking arrives. myshake.berkeley.edu
MANHATTAN BEACH CERT ASSOCIATION
The Manhattan Beach Community Emergency Response Team Association (MBCERTA) is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to enhance disaster preparedness and emergency response for the citizens of Manhattan Beach. We accomplish this through participation in community awareness events, various training programs, and drills, and providing volunteer support to the Manhattan Beach Fire and Police Departments when a disaster strikes or upon activation by the Manhattan Beach Fire or Police Departments in the event of an emergency.
www.mbcerta.org
NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA)
WEATHER RADIO
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. www.weather.gov/nwr
WATCH DUTY
Watch Duty is a web app that provides information and tools for firefighters and the public.
You can view active and historical fire perimeters, satellite hotspots, flight tracker, power outages, weather, air quality, and more.
app.watchduty.org/Alerts
PUBLIC ALERTS AND WARNINGS GUIDE
10 SOUTH COAST AQMD
South Coast AQMD is responsible for controlling emissions primarily from stationary sources of air pollution. These can include anything from large power plants and refineries to the corner gas station. There are about 25,500 such businesses operating under South Coast AQMD permits. Many consumer products also cause air emissions; these include house paint, furniture varnish, and thousands of products containing solvents that evaporate into the air. www.aqmd.gov
CHEVRON FENCELINE MONITORING
Chevron El Segundo has completed the installation of a fenceline air quality monitoring and public data reporting system in fulfillment of South Coast AQMD Rule 1180. System optimization is ongoing, which may influence data availability and quality. Please consider all data preliminary.
www.elsegundo1180.com
BEACH CITIES CAER
Beach Cities CAER is a non-profit public benefit organization focused on providing improved community engagement, emergency response education, and enhancing public health and safety. We are a team of public agencies, city emergency management professionals, fire departments, schools, manufacturing industries, chemical producers, and transporters in the South Bay region. Our goal is continuous improvement in the areas of community awareness, emergency preparedness, and coordinated public agency and industry response programs. beachcitiescaer.org
RED CROSS EMERGENCY APP
The Emergency app helps you and your loved ones before, during, and after a disaster.
Access short guides to help you prepare, receive National Weather Service alerts, view live weather maps, and find open Red Cross shelters and services near you. The Emergency app is free to all users, available in English and Spanish, and designed with accessibility in mind. www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps.html
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