Evac plan needs update: fire dept
Village preparing more complete emergency response for community though flooding unlikely this spring
Andrew Livingstone
Northern News Services
Thursday, April 23, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Fort Simpson's emergency response plan is not comprehensive enough to properly handle the potential dangers of flooding that come with breakup every spring, says the deputy fire chief.
Nahanni Butte was faced with an evacuation due to flooding in recent years. While Fort Simpson hasn't faced a major emergency in 24 years, representatives from organizations in the community including police, fire services, the health centre and the power corporation, are working with the village to prepare a more comprehensive plan in case a flood were to happen. - NNSL file photo
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At an emergency management committee meeting on April 15, Pat Rowe made it clear that the village plan doesn't formally address a number of issues that would be important to properly executing an evacuation of the island, if water were to breach the banks of the Mackenzie River.
"The flood event is going to happen every year, and if - and when - it does happen that the village floods, I just don't see the answers coming up," a frustrated Rowe said during the meeting of representatives from the village, RCMP, fire department, territorial government and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. While early indications of the water levels on the Mackenzie and Fort Liard rivers indicate flooding is unlikely to happen, the committee will meet in the coming weeks to go through the plan, address any gaps and improve its overall quality.
"We need to be prepared for the worst scenario, not the medium-case scenario," said Mike Drake, regional superintendent for Municipal and Community Affairs. "We need to know what we are missing because we don't really know what we are missing at this point."
Rowe said the flood of 1991 that required evacuation of the island exposed serious gaps in the execution of an emergency response plan. When residents were moved away to safety, the plan was to set up tents to keep people warm, however, the location where the tents were housed was already under water.
"Only one tent was set up," he said. "That proved the system was flawed."
Rowe's biggest concern was the lack of detail in the plan. He said without these details in place and outlining who is responsible for what duties in the event of a flood, it leaves the plan vulnerable to being changed mid-execution and potentially endangering residents.
"Every year we talk about a flood, but there has never been a complete plan," he said.
Community members and organizers meet annually in the weeks leading up to the breakup season to make sure everyone is on the same page with the plan and to make any changes the committee thinks need to be made.
One of the issues raised at the meeting was the required co-ordination for the emergency response once people are off the island. While there is no comprehensive plan in place to address duties that may need to be handled in the event of an emergency, the airport has been identified as the temporary meeting point for residents who have been evacuated from their homes. Drake said while it's unlikely every resident would arrive at the airport at one time, he said staggered evacuation by air would be the best way to handle moving people to other communities.
Later in the meeting, Drake said that a full run-through of the plan is necessary to identify gaps in execution.
"A walk through of the emergency plan to make sure it works needs to happen," he said. "All kinds of things come into play so we need to make sure it works."
Mayor Sean Whelly said the plan, last revised in 2011, is scant on a lot of nitty-gritty details of executing an evacuation, like procedure to make sure people are evacuating, who would get wood to start a fire for warmth if necessary, temporary lodging for residents who have left their homes and a number of other considerations.
"If we have all the plans in the document we can have a comprehensive document to work with," he said. "We have to itemize the steps that happen before-hand and during the emergency."
Rowe said it's important to have a detailed plan with responsibilities allocated so in the case the village is flooded everyone knows their roles, reducing the risk of miscommunication and potentially grave mistakes from happening.
"As long as it's carried through to the end, we can't be making changes mid-stream," he said. "It needs to go full-circle in order to make it work effectively."
