Citzen Planning Guide For Disaster Preparedness

May, 2002

Dear Residents of Paradise,

The Town of Paradise is situated in one of the most beautiful locations in California. With our foothill location, ranging from 1080 to 2320 foot elevation, we have spectacular scenery, and abundance of beautiful trees and wildlife, and breathtaking canyon and valley views.

However, this beauty comes with a price. Due to our topography and elevation, we are subject to natural disasters that most communities would not dream of. Wildland fires are a constant threat during the summer months, and occasional winter snowstorms can create very treacherous driving conditions in the winter months. In addition, we have a history of occasional violent windstorms, hailstorms and localized flooding due to heavy rain.

These and many other disasters could affect Paradise at any time. Your Police, Fire and Public Works Departments are very well prepared to respond to these disasters. However, occasionally the sheer magnitude of an event may outstrip our resources, even under the best of conditions.

This Citizen Planning Guide for Disaster Preparedness was created with the citizens of Paradise in mind. We wanted to give you, our citizens, the tools and information you need to help yourselves in a disaster situation, until our Town Public Safety and Public Works crews can get the event under control.

If you would like to be involved in helping out during Town disasters, we have many programs for citizen involvement, ranging from the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) program to becoming a Volunteer Fire Department member.

I sincerely hope you and your family find this Planning Guide useful. If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at 872-6291.

Yours truly,

Charles L. Rough, Jr.
Town Manager