Strengthening community resilience in the face of emergency evacuation
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The City will be receiving a shot in the arm to strengthen its community resilience.
Around $30,000 from the Provincial Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) will be handed to the City of Nelson for strengthening its public notification processes and evacuation readiness.
To help keep people safe and informed during emergencies — such as during the annual wildfire season that still grips much of the Southeast Fire Centre range — the Province provides funds to places like Nelson to improve the planning necessary for establishing and crafting proper emergency evacuation routes ahead of evacuations, and creating processes for public notifications.
Through the funding, the City is expected to identify and create a capacity of available routes and methods of evacuation, and local emergency-alerting systems that provide information to people in the event of an emergency.
Administered through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), the CEPF funds are for projects that support First Nations and local governments to better prepare for disasters and reduce risks from hazards in a changing climate.
Local governments and First Nations throughout British Columbia will receive $909,000 from the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund through the Public Notification and Evacuation Route Planning stream.
“As we face more severe weather events due to climate change, the safety of people remains the top priority,” said Bowinn Ma, minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, in a press release. “Recent emergencies, such as wildfires and landslides, highlight how important it is that people have the information they need to evacuate safely. By investing in community evacuation route and public notification planning, we’re helping ensure that local governments and First Nations have the tools they need to keep people safe during emergencies.”
The CEPF helps communities better prepare for and mitigate the impacts of climate-related emergencies by funding local projects and initiatives in several categories. In addition to public notification and evacuation route planning, other categories include:
- emergency operations centre equipment and training;
- disaster-risk reduction and climate adaptation;
- Indigenous cultural safety and cultural-humility training; and
- emergency support-services equipment and training.
