WEST COAST TSUNAMI PREPAREDNESS WEEK – COMMUNITY EVENTS
Community members in Ehatis, Oclucje, Tahsis, and Zeballos are encouraged to participate in Hike to High Ground Public Evacuation Exercises during Tsunami Preparedness Week.
The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) invites interested community members in Ehatis, Oclucje, Tahsis, and Zeballos to participate in Hike to High Ground Public Evacuation Exercises during Tsunami Preparedness Week. These hikes raise awareness of BC’s tsunami risk and give people along the coast the opportunity to practice reaching a tsunami-safe location. This year, Tsunami Preparedness Week is from April 14 to 20.
TAHSIS – Wednesday, April 17th 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Hike to High Ground Public Evacuation Exercise
At 11:00 am, Tahsis community members will receive an Alertable notification indicating an incoming earthquake will cause severe ground shaking in 60 seconds***. This will be the cue to ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On’ as if the ground was shaking and then people are to evacuate to the Discovery Crescent Tsunami Muster Site.
All participants at the Muster Site will be treated to hot dogs and entered to win a household emergency kit.
EHATIS & ZEBALLOS – Wednesday April 17th 7:15 pm – 8:00 pm: Distant Tsunami Door-to-Door Evacuation Exercise
At 7:15 pm the tsunami warning sirens will sound and the Zeballos Volunteer Fire Department (ZVFD) will be door-knocking to alert residents in Ehatis and Zeballos about a (pretend) incoming distant tsunami from Alaska. A coloured piece of flagging tape will indicate that the home has been visited during the exercise. The ZVFD will remove the ribbon at the end of the exercise. The purpose of this exercise is to test notification procedures and assess how many households the ZVFD can visit, community members are not to evacuate during this exercise. If your household is not visited, it’s because specific notification areas have been selected for this exercise, and not all areas will be notified.
EHATIS, OCLUCJE & ZEBALLOS – Thursday April 18th 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Hike to High Ground Public Evacuation Exercise
At 2:00 pm community members of Ehatis, Oclucje and Zeballos will receive an Alertable notification indicating an incoming earthquake will cause severe ground shaking in 60 seconds***. This is the cue to ‘Drop, Cover, and Hold On’ as if the ground was shaking and then people are to evacuate to the Ehatis Tsunami Muster Site with the seacan (up the forest service road away from the community).
All participants at the muster site will be treated to burgers and hot dogs and entered to win a household emergency kit.
*** Please note that, this is just an exercise as the SRD cannot predict earthquakes. Once the Canadian Earthquake Early Warning system launches this Spring, it will provide seconds to tens-of-seconds of warning by detecting an earthquake immediately after it occurs. If you ever receive an alert – whether on your phone, TV or radio — please take immediate protective actions, like ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’. For more information about the Earthquake Early Warning system, please visit https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/eew-asp/system-en.php
Please sign up for Alertable notifications at srd.ca/alerts.
Interested in learning more about emergency preparedness in the Strathcona Regional District. Please visit srd.ca/emergency-preparedness.
Media Contact: Shaun Koopman, Manager of Emergency Services 250-830-6702 | skoopman@srd.ca