Ready is how California leads, and every Californian has a role to play

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Sep 14, 2026

Ready is how California leads, and every Californian has a role to play

During Preparedness Month, Governor Newsom highlights California's preparedness leadership and calls on every Californian to make a plan

What you need to know: Governor Newsom announces September as Preparedness Month, highlighting statewide events, resources, and readiness efforts to encourage Californians to be prepared for the next emergency. California's preparedness strategy is saving lives and protecting communities, from earthquake alerts that give people precious seconds to act, to AI-powered technology that catches wildfires before anyone calls 911, to stockpiles of flood-fighting supplies ready to deploy at a moment's notice.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today marked Preparedness Month by highlighting California's work to prepare for the full range of emergencies facing the state, and by urging Californians to take a few simple steps that can make a life-saving difference. The most consequential work California does in a disaster often happens before anyone sees the smoke, feels the ground shake, or hears an evacuation alert.

It happens when the state positions resources ahead of a winter storm. When a family receives an earthquake warning seconds before shaking begins. When a neighbor checks on an older resident during extreme heat. When communities reduce fire risk before the next red flag warning.

The first duty of government is to protect its people. That means acting before the disaster, not just responding after it. California is preparing earlier, investing more, and putting the best available science and technology to work for the people we serve. We are building a state that is ready for the threats we know are coming and resilient enough to meet the ones we do not.

Governor Gavin Newsom

California ready: prepared for every threat

Since taking office, Governor Newsom has strengthened California's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

"Preparedness is a shared responsibility, built through strong partnerships and informed communities that know what to do when an emergency happens," said Cal OES Director Caroline Thomas Jacobs. "Preparedness is about looking out for one another, planning ahead, and helping our families, friends, and communities stay safe when emergencies happen. The steps we take today can make a meaningful difference when every second counts."

"Thanks to historic investments, we're leveraging the best tools and talent to help keep Californians safe," said CAL FIRE Chief/Director Joe Tyler. "However, while CAL FIRE remains vigilant and ready to respond to emergencies, true resilience comes when every Californian recognizes their role in preparedness and does their part too."

The state has expanded lifesaving warning systems, increased emergency response capacity, invested in prevention, and supported communities in preparing for the risks they face. Here's how the state is showing up across key areas:

• Earthquake ready: In 2019, Governor Newsom launched Earthquake Warning California, the nation's first public statewide earthquake early-warning system. The system detects earthquakes using ground-motion sensors and can issue alerts through the MyShake app, compatible Android devices, and Wireless Emergency Alerts before shaking is felt. As of today, the app has over 4.7 million downloads across all platforms. During a 2024 earthquake in Kern County, the system alerted millions of Californians, with some receiving up to 35 seconds of advance notice.
• Heat ready: Governor Newsom has also made extreme-heat preparedness a statewide priority. In 2025, California launched CalHeatScore, a first-in-the-nation tool that provides ZIP code-level information on the health risks of heat. In July 2026, the state mobilized ahead of extreme heat and elevated fire risk across the West, pre-positioning fire crews and equipment in eight counties and delivering heat-safety messaging statewide in 17 languages through Ready California. In August, Governor Newsom announced an updated Extreme Heat Action Plan, organized around four tracks — public awareness, community response, resilient infrastructure, and nature-based cooling solutions — to protect Californians as extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe.
• Storm ready: California is preparing earlier for flood and winter storm threats. Before a 2025 atmospheric river event, the state pre-positioned more than 3.7 million sandbags and 162 flood-fighting material containers across 25 counties. Caltrans deployed 2,500 personnel and 1,253 pieces of equipment, including snowplows, backhoes, and storm-drain clearing equipment. Since 2015, the California Department of Water Resources has trained more than 7,000 local first responders on how to fight floods. And California maintains a stockpile of more than 6.1 million sandbags, 400,000 tons of rock, and other flood-fighting materials at 70 locations statewide.
• Fire ready: California's investments are life-saving. The state now operates the nation's first state-owned fleet of C-130H airtankers, launched three FireSat wildfire-detection satellites in June 2026, and expanded ALERTCalifornia's AI camera network to more than 1,200 cameras statewide that have detected over 900 fires before 911 calls were made. As part of the state's ongoing investment in wildfire resilience and emergency response, CAL FIRE has significantly expanded its workforce over the past five years by adding an average of 1,800 full-time and 600 seasonal positions annually — nearly double that available when Governor Newsom first took office. Since January 1, 2025, Cal OES has pre-deployed 1,132 fire engines, 154 water tenders, 80 helicopters, 142 pieces of heavy equipment, and more than 9,900 firefighters and support personnel to 41 counties ahead of critical fire weather and potential flooding.
• Security ready: Since 2015, Governor Gavin Newsom, in partnership with the Legislature, has invested $300 million in state funding to 1,614 nonprofits and places of worship to help protect against violent attacks and hate crimes. Under the Governor's leadership, California has updated its cybersecurity roadmap, known as Cal-Secure 2.0, to address emerging threats from artificial intelligence and foreign state actors. Increasing California's readiness in cyberspace.

Since its inception in 2019, Ready California has invested over $150 million in more than 680 community-based organizations, tribes, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) programs, volunteers, and service teams, reaching over 16 million Californians engaged through face-to-face outreach. Ready California continues to serve all 58 counties with over 3,000 community and emergency services leaders trained to lead preparedness efforts, strengthening statewide resilience. The Governor has also expanded Ready California to focus not only on preparedness but also on response, recovery, and the overall resilience of California communities. Ready California is reaching over 16 million Californians in all 58 counties and training more than 3,000 community and emergency services leaders.

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California brings preparedness resources to every community

Preparedness work happens on a variety of fronts: bringing events, tools, and life-saving resources to communities, and reducing risk year-round so disasters are less likely to start in the first place. Here's how that vital work is playing out this month and every month:

Statewide events and resources reach every region
Throughout September, Cal OES coordinates statewide preparedness efforts and promotes Ready California, also known as Listos California, which provides preparedness information and tools for Californians, including more than 600 preparedness-specific resources designed to reach communities in multiple languages.

In particular, this is the 4th year that Cal OES has hosted statewide community-focused resiliency events — known as Disaster Ready Regional Summits — that bring together government partners and community participants to coordinate on preparedness, response, and recovery efforts specific to their communities.

Year-round wildfire prevention keeps communities safer
CAL FIRE is also continuing its year-round wildfire preparedness and prevention efforts, including its One Less Spark campaign, which reminds Californians that human-caused wildfires are preventable and that small actions can help stop fires before they start. Overall, California has invested billions in wildfire resilience and response, including expanded firefighting capacity, aviation resources, detection and mapping technology, forest management and thousands of landscape health and fire prevention projects.

But California cannot do this alone. The state continues to call on the federal government to fulfill its responsibility to maintain federal lands and provide the resources needed to reduce wildfire risk and protect communities. The federal government manages 57% of California's land, while the state manages only 31%, underscoring the need for strong federal-state partnership on wildfire preparedness and prevention.

What you can do right now to prepare

Getting ready before an emergency occurs gives you peace of mind, protects the people and things that matter most to you, and helps your community respond more effectively.

Preparedness means knowing what to do when an earthquake strikes, understanding evacuation routes and flood risks, knowing where to find trusted emergency information, preparing for extreme heat or severe weather (https://www.listoscalifornia.org/resources/?_resource_topics=storm-season-safety), and making sure households have the supplies and plans they need to stay safe.

CAL FIRE's Wildfire Action Plan (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/readyforwildfire-website/prepare-for-wildfire/wildfire-action-plan/cal-fire-ready-set-go-brochure-final-files-v4-print.pdf?rev=ad344513a7944becb4be60ffccd91f18&hash=3B7498DD6354914DC5E91D6B0E2AE3F4__;!!NcZN9E-XsvE!IU0_eOEa-ItVrIl1jQBAbrooSdXRv6ac_6rh6qpvMz3HjPkWlcqYIfCkOYYmfNfPfuRL4eA36ySFsjzonAlHTwadWkxF7Y0rC17RWUMS-w) can help you prepare for more than just a wildfire. Get your emergency plan started today, and visit ReadyforWildfire.org (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.readyforwildfire.org/__;!!NcZN9E-XsvE!IU0_eOEa-ItVrIl1jQBAbrooSdXRv6ac_6rh6qpvMz3HjPkWlcqYIfCkOYYmfNfPfuRL4eA36ySFsjzonAlHTwadWkxF7Y0rC16wMohJYQ) for more resources.

Californians should take these basic steps now:

• Get alerts — sign up for local emergency alerts here (https://www.listoscalifornia.org/alerts/) and follow trusted sources (https://www.listoscalifornia.org/resources/county-emergency-information-resource-sheets-english/).
• Make a plan — know your evacuation routes, meeting places, and how you will communicate.
• Help others — check in on family, friends, neighbors and people who may need additional support.

Because whether the emergency is a wildfire, an earthquake, a flood, or something else entirely, preparedness starts long before the first warning.

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