Emergency Preparedness Week May 7 – 13, 2023
Emergency Preparedness Week is an opportunity for community members to take action to ensure they are prepared to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Campbell River, BC – The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) encourages residents to take part in Emergency Preparedness Week from May 7 to 13, 2023. Emergency Preparedness Week is an opportunity for community members to take action to ensure they are prepared to protect themselves and their loved ones.
“Next week is Emergency Preparedness Week, which is a nationwide event that encourages Canadians to take real actions to better prepare and protect themselves and their families during emergencies” stated SRD Chair Mark Baker. “Emergency Planning is everyone’s responsibility. We should all be ready to take care of ourselves for a minimum of 72 hours. Having a plan helps us be prepared and self-sufficient and allows emergency responders to prioritize assistance where it is most needed.”
Here are 7 tasks (one for each day of the week) that residents can take to be better prepared.
- Day 1 – Before Emergency Preparedness Week starts, check out the free showing of the Tsunami 11th Relative documentary touring across the SRD this week. Showing dates, times and locations are listed below.
- Day 2 – Ensure your household has given sufficient thought about how to minimize the stress of your pet during a disaster. For example, does your pet have a favorite toy or stuffy? If so, consider having an extra one on hand in case you cannot find the original one.
- Day 3 – As the dry season approaches, now is a great time to clean up yards and do a FireSmart assessment of your home and surrounding property. Take the free FireSmart 101 online course to learn about the Wildland Urban Interface, why FireSmart is needed now more than ever, the seven FireSmart principles and more. Visit www.firesmartbc.ca to register for the course and learn how you can prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.
- Day 4 – Download the free Alertable app for our regional emergency mass notification system to your cellphone or visit www.srd.ca/alerts to learn more.
- Day 5 – Consider booking a free emergency planning presentation for your business, group or organization by contacting preparedness@srd.ca or 250-830-6702.
- Day 6 – Have a discussion with your insurance provider about what financial support is available if you are displaced due to a disaster. Typically, Emergency Support Services only provides three days of basic financial support for evacuees.
- Day 7 – Consider becoming an Animal Response Team, Emergency Support Services, Search and Rescue or Emergency Communication Team volunteer member. Learn more at www.srd.ca/emergency-support-services.
The SRD also has several online resources to help residents better prepare for a disaster including downloadable workbooks, flood maps, handbooks, checklists and links to other emergency preparedness websites. For more information about volunteering for SRD’s regional emergency program and how to better prepare your family for a disaster, please visit www.srd.ca/emergency-planning.
Tsunami 11th Relative will be screening at the following locations.
Join the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) for an informative evening about emergency preparedness and tsunamis. This free event will feature a screening of a special documentary, Tsunami 11th Relative.
The documentary covers First Nations history and stories about earthquakes and tsunamis on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
“The Tsunami 11th Relative documentary gathered some Indigenous knowledge of tsunamis on the west coast of Vancouver Island,” said SRD Chair Mark Baker. “I hope many people come to watch the Tsunami 11th Relative to learn about the rich history of tsunamis on the west coast, and how science and Indigenous knowledge can work together to make our communities safer.”
“As project leader of the tsunami documentary, I learned how urgent it is to record our traditional stories as our elders are passing on. We lost three elders during the production of this documentary” said Pieter Romer, Indigenous Community Liaison with Ocean Networks Canada who is also the producer, director and writer of this documentary.
“I also learned from Nuu-chah-nulth artist, Tim Paul, who was taught by his grandmother, that sky, sun, moon, mountains, rivers, lakes, land, sea, wind and stars are all our relatives. Earthquake and Tsunami is our 11th relative which is intended to teach humility – remind us of our place in this world and that we are the very smallest part of this universe.”
This film tour was made possible through funding from the SRD’s regional grant Disaster Risk Reduction / Climate Adaptation funding stream.
| Date | Time | Community | Location |
| Tuesday May 2 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm | Kyuquot | School Gymnasium |
| Wednesday May 3 | 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm | Oclucje | Upstairs Band Office – #13 Upper Level Rd. |
| Thursday May 4 |
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm OR 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm |
Zeballos | Community Centre – 161 Maquinna Rd. |
| Friday May 5 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Campbell River | Tidemark Theatre – 1220 Shoppers Row |
| Saturday May 6 | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Tsa’xana |
House of Unity – 100 Ouawatin Rd.
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| Saturday May 6 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm | Gold River |
Community Hall – 350 Muchalaht Dr
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| Sunday May 7 |
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm OR 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm |
Tahsis | Tahsis Recreation Centre – 285 Alpine View |
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Media contact: Shaun Koopman, SRD Protective Services Coordinator, 250-830-6702 | skoopman@srd.ca