During Emergency Preparedness Week, the City of Nanaimo is encouraging residents to sign up for its emergency notification system and have an emergency kit at the ready.
The week takes place Sunday, May 4, to Saturday, May 10, with a provincial emergency alert scheduled to be issued across B.C. on Wednesday, May 7, at 1:55 p.m.
"For Emergency Preparedness Week we're asking residents to do a few things enhance their own personal preparedness for emergencies," said Evan Lloyd, the city's emergency manager. "This allows them to be self-reliant and if there is a major incident, the resources can go to those most in need."
A preparedness kit would include a plan, contact information, medication, non-perishable food and water for up to a week or more. There should be four litres of water per person per day. Warm clothing, blankets and light sources should also be included.
"Think of camping at home for the week is the sort of concept we're trying to get across," Lloyd said.
Provincial emergency alerts are sent through cell towers with coverage in an impacted area, then delivered to cellphones connected to those towers. To be alerted by the municipality or city, however, users need to sign up online for their emergency notification system through Voyent Alert.
Emergencies that may warrant generating an alert from the city include earthquakes above a magnitude 6.0, or local safety issues such as specific damage caused by an earthquake. Residents can choose to receive push notifications through the Voyent Alert smartphone app, or e-mail, text or a phone call.
Mayor Leonard Krog said the alert system is a simple, quick and easy way to get an emergency message out to a local population. He pointed to when the alert was sent out to a neighbourhood after a water main break on Bowen Road.
"Not all disasters are going to be provincewide or Island-wide, some issues will be very much local issues and that could include, potentially, a fire," the mayor explained. "We know several million hectares burned in British Columbia last year … It wasn't in Nanaimo's jurisdiction but I'm sure the communities near the fire sources in northern British Columbia were, and would be, grateful for systems that were localized in addition to what the province does."
Krog warned that one of the worst things someone can do is put off setting up their kit or delay signing up for alerts.
"Some form of disaster is just around the corner, we simply don't know when. After it's started it's too late to prepare."
People can sign up for Voyent Alert through the city website at www.nanaimo.ca/public-safety/emergency-management/emergency-call-alert-system.
The Regional District of Nanaimo acknowledged Emergency Preparedness Week in a separate press release.
The regional district also uses the Voyent Alert system to co-ordinate emergency alerts and urges residents to sign up at http://rdn.bc.ca/voyent-alert. Subscribers can also choose to opt in or out of RDN non-emergency alerts.
For more information about how residents can prepare for emergencies and make a kit, they're asked to visit www.nanaimo.ca/goto/emergencykit or the provincial website at www.preparedbc.ca.
