2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

City of Irvine

currently updating its tree inventory to manage better these City assets, which are valued at approximately $181 million. Given the nature of the hazards that affect trees within the City and the quality of life benefits that trees provide within the City, active management of this resource is a primary function of the City’s Public Works Department.

I NFRASTRUCTURE A SSESSMENT

Infrastructure plays a vital role in mitigating the effects of hazard events. When infrastructure fails, it can exacerbate the extent of certain hazards or create complications for rescue workers trying to reach victims. For example, fallen utility poles, as a result of strong winds or seismic activity, can obstruct roadways and prevent emergency vehicles from reaching affected areas. The following are electrical, fossil fuel, hydrologic, and transportation networks of infrastructure in Irvine.

Electricity

Irvine receives its electrical supply from Southern California Edison (SCE). There are seven substations located within the City connecting 220kV and 66 kV powerlines that run both east to west and north to south. These lines bring power to Irvine and the surrounding cities and provide connection to other regional power sources as well. 13 These connections help Irvine access auxiliary electricity sources, should any of its immediate infrastructure fail. However, a larger and more regional failure of the power grid would likely disrupt power transmission to Irvine for an extended time period until power can be restored.

Cabrillo Substation Power Outage

On August 2, 2019 an electrical fire at Southern California Edison (SCE) ’s Cabrillo Substation caused a power outage of approximately 28,000 customers including parts of UC Irvine. This event shutdown operations at John Wayne Airport as well as affected 50 City intersections that were either flashing red or completely de-energized. Electricity was completely restored to all Irvine customers by early morning on August 4 th . 14 In response to this incident, the City partially activated the Emergency Operations Center, opened and staffed a care and reception center for residents, a cooling center, sent mass notifications, conducted welfare checks on critical care customers and coordinate traffic management and control at intersections without power (active or back up). Of the many lessons learned from this incident, the City recognized that residents within the City affected by a power outage may require assistance because they are critical care customers and rely on electricity for medical reasons or they may have limited mobility, which can impact their ability to re-locate to a cooling center. Since this event the City has actively taken the following steps to address some of the vulnerabilities identified by this incident: • Applied for a grant to purchase several new emergency generators to power various senior/community centers in the City.

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