British Columbia’s lack of earthquake preparedness should send tremors among the populace.
At a recent Powell River Regional District committee of the whole meeting, regional directors were told about processes underway that will hopefully lead to new commitments to improve the situation.
Ryan Thoms, manager of emergency services for the Powell River Regional Emergency Program, said there was lots of criticism about Emergency Management BC’s ability to manage a catastrophic earthquake in the province in the Auditor General’s report tabled in March of this year.
Thoms said in the wake of that report, the province hired Henry Renteria, the former director of California’s Office of Emergency Services, to chair a series of consultation sessions regarding earthquake preparedness. Thoms said he and Colin Palmer, regional district chair, had attended a meeting on the Lower Sunshine Coast in July.
Thoms indicated Renteria got the picture that there is a sense of frustration at the local level. He added there has been a lack of movement on a number of identified concerns and Renteria indicated he would provide a full report to the provincial government by Christmas.
“I think at that point I’d like to come back to this committee with that final report,” Thoms said.
Palmer’s conclusion was the consultant, “who is very qualified in these disaster situations,” was telling the group that the province is just not ready for a disaster. “My annoyance was, we’ve been told we need a bylaw for this and an executive committee for that. The province is sending the message: you guys have to get organized at a local level, and Mr. Renteria is giving me the impression the province isn’t organized at all. It’s more like a reactive situation right now rather than proactive. It’s quite disturbing, actually.”
Palmer said Renteria might report something totally different, but if he’s true to his word, the province has a tiger by the tail.
“They’ve appointed him and the question is: will you implement what he recommends?”
Palmer said everyone in attendance got the idea that a number of things will have to be updated for earthquake preparedness.
Thoms told the committee about the National Emergency Stockpile that is in place in Powell River to deal with disasters.
“It has been identified for years here in Powell River, as have other communities in British Columbia, as a concern. It’s a stockpile the federal government invested in and has gone out of date.” Thoms said the medical equipment has a late-1950s’ date stamp.
He added that to the City of Powell River’s credit, which has housed this equipment for many years, it is looked after and is in mint condition. Its usefulness, however, is questionable.
“We’re afraid the X-ray machine probably doesn’t work, or if anyone knows how to use it,” Thoms said.
Part of the challenge, whether it is with emergency preparedness or infrastructure upgrading that is not built to current seismic standards, is the expense.
“We are not trying to be unrealistic but we have to at least speak about the concerns that we have,” Thoms said.
Concerns cited during the meeting between Renteria and the Powell River and Sunshine Coast regional districts include:
• The need for seismic upgrades for critical infrastructure
• Vulnerabilities for small and isolated communities
• The lack of funding assistance from the provincial and federal levels for local earthquake preparedness improvements
• The need for improved and consistent emergency communications
• The need to update medical emergency stockpiles
• Shortcomings in the current provincial Emergency Program Act.
