2024-018 - Emergency Operations Plan

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City of Santa Ana Emergency Operations Plan Part I Basic Plan Chapter 2 — City of Santa Ana Community Profile and Hazard Assessment 2.1 Community Profile 2.1.1 History Don Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish expedition leader, discovered a river valley in Southern California on July 26, 1769. He christened the valley "Santa Ana" in honor of Saint Anne. A Spanish soldier named Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew Juan Peralta were given a Spanish land grant for the area after the commencement of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. This area, which Yorba called the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, encompassed a large portion of what is now known as Orange County, and he developed the lands for cattle grazing and productive farmland.' In 1869, William H. Spurgeon purchased 70 acres of the original land grant from the Yorba family and plotted a town site. The new town was given the name of Santa Ana. In 1886, Santa Ana was incorporated as a city. When Orange County split from Los Angeles County three years later, Santa Ana was designated as the county seat' Santa Ana grew quickly from a population of 2,000 in 1886 to almost 8,500 in 1910. In 1878, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a line from Los Angeles that terminated in Santa Ana, integrating the City within the burgeoning Los Angeles metropolitan area. This was followed by the Santa Fe Railroad and the Pacific Electric Railroad, which both ran routes by way of Santa Ana and facilitated the growth of the City. Adding to the transportation infrastructure, Firestone Boulevard was constructed in the mid-1930s and provided a direct automobile route between Los Angeles and Santa Ana.' Prior to World War 11, the City was a prosperous agricultural hub of Anglo-European farmers that utilized Mexican migrant labor to sustain the region's economy. The post-war boom of the 1950s left the City with a population of over 100,000 residents to work in emerging manufacturing and military industries. During the advent of the freeway era, Firestone Boulevard was incorporated into the larger Santa Ana Freeway project (I-5) in 1953, furthering growth in the region.4 Since the 1970s, Santa Ana has experienced a dramatic demographic shift and now serves as home to one of the largest concentrations of Mexican -Americans in the United States. The growing population has allowed the Santa Ana community to emerge as a significant economic and cultural force in the region.' Known today as "Downtown Orange County", Santa Ana remains the seat of county, state and federal government offices and courts, serves as the transportation hub of Orange County and is a headquarters location for major businesses and industries and large retail shopping centers. 2.1.2 Geography and Geology Santa Ana is located on 27.3 square miles' between the Santa Ana Mountains to the east and the Pacific Coast, which is approximately 10 miles to the west. It is slightly northwest of the geographic center of Orange County; however, if one excludes the undevelopable southeastern portion of the County, which contains the Cleveland National Forest, Santa Ana is at the geographic center of inhabited and developed Orange County. The City is bordered to the north by the Cities of Garden Grove and Orange, to the east by the City of Tustin, to the south by the Cities of Irvine and Costa Mesa, and to the west by the Cities of Fountain Valley and Westminster (Figure below). ' From httn•//www Santa-ana ore/facts/; Santa Ana's Logan Barrio by Mary Garcia 2 From hn7//www.santa-ana.orWfiscts ; Santa Ana's Logan Barrio by Mary Garcia ' From Santa Ana's Logan Barrio by Mary Garcia and GP Circulation Element 4 From Santa Ana's Logan Barrio by Mary Garcia and GP Circulation Element ' From Santa Ana's Logan Barrio by Mary Garcia; General Plan (?) ' Santa Ana City Public Works Agency, State Plane NAD 83, Zone 406 Projection; http://www.ei.santa-ana.ca.us/facts/ 11