Emergency officials Wednesday said they will be notified "within minutes" if federal authorities uncover a threat of a terrorist attack in Orange County.
Sheriff Michael S. Carona also said the county's Emergency Operations Center has been activated several times since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because of perceived threats.
Carona talked with reporters during a daylong training exercise to prepare for an attack. More than 200 law enforcement, fire, health and other emergency personnel hunkered down in a remote hilltop bunker near Irvine Lake, practicing responses to a variety of terrorist threats on potential targets.
For security reasons, Carona declined to disclose specific scenarios. However, the results of the drill were reassuring, he said.
"We are safe. We are very safe," Carona said. "We're prepared to respond to any incident that may take place."
George V. Vinson, whom Gov. Gray Davis recently hired as his special advisor on state security, came to watch the exercise and brief local officials on the latest directives from the White House.
