City of Peterborough Flood 2004 Fact Sheet

Transcription

1 City of Peterborough Flood 2004 Fact Sheet On July 15/04 the City of Peterborough experienced a record 175 mm of rainfall over the City. It was noted that during the hour between 3:30 am and 4:30 am, a rainfall of 78.8 mm was measured. Currently emergency management staff is determining how this storm impacted other areas in Canada and the United States, which will be included in a later report to Council. Peterborough Fire Department Platoon Chief Larry Russell realized very early on that conditions in the City were rapidly deteriorating and contacted Fire Chief Lee Grant to express his concerns. The Fire Department was inundated with calls across the entire City. Calls ranged from flooded basements to fire alarms. As conditions worsened, the Fire Department received a call reporting a collapsed roof at Extendicare Nursing Home. It was immediately apparent at this point that the Emergency Control Group should be activated to deal with the extraordinary situation. The EOC call-out was initiated. Upon arrival it was evident that residents would have to be evacuated. The evacuation took almost five hours and relocated 171 long-term care residents to the Evinrude Center, without incident. The success of the evacuation is the result of all parties working together in a time of crisis to make it happen. The team comprised of Social Services, PFD, Transit, Evinrude Staff and Extendicare staff. The following is a summary of key facts relating to the events of July 15/04 to the present. Emergency Operations Center July 15th Emergency Operations Center activated and was fully operational by 5:30 am. The Declaration of Emergency made by Mayor Sutherland at 7:00 am. In addition to the Emergency Control Group, assistance was provided by Emergency Management Ontario Community Officer JoAnn Kropf-Hedley and representatives from various Government agencies such as Otonabee Region Conservation Authority, Ministry Natural Resources and Ministry of the Environment. Dr. James Young, Commissioner of Emergency Management Ontario, joined the Emergency Operations Center for the afternoon of July 15th and the morning of the July 16th to observe the operation assist with resources where possible. The Emergency Control group and City Staff have worked around the clock since July 15/04. In many cases staff have worked hour days until the center closed on July 29th when the Declaration of Emergency was terminated.

2 Political Visits Thursday July 15th Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services toured the City with MP Peter Adams and MPP Jeff Leal Friday July 16th Premier Dalton McGuinty with MP Peter Adams and MPP Jeff Leal toured the City and visited the EOC to view operations. July 21st John Garretsen, Minister of Municipal Housing & Affairs, presented Council and County representatives with cheques for $4.5 million and $0.5 million respectively as an advance payment to assist with the recovery efforts. August 3rd Premier Dalton McGuinty together with MP Peter Adams and MPP Jeff Leal attended City Hall to congratulate city residents and staff of Peterborough for dedicated commitment to community recovery. Premier McGuinty also pledged one hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars to support local tourism. Media The media played a significant role in informing the public and maintaining public confidence throughout the emergency. Flood coverage was carried locally, nationally and internationally. Her Worship Mayor Sylvia Sutherland, Fire Chief Lee Grant, City Clerk Nancy Wright-Laking, and Social Services Director Pat Knapp and Deputy Fire Chief Trent Gervais provided ongoing media interviews. As of August 11th the City of Peterborough had issued forty nine press releases for flood related issues Public Inquiry Public Information lines where activated approximately one hour after the EOC was operational. Fifty-three staff provided 1453 person-hours to deal with approximately 13,000 calls until the Public Inquiry line was moved to the Intake Screening Unit on August 3rd This staff dealt with all calls for service and assistance including many seriously distressed caller who required expert psychological and emotional support Databases were created to track all call inquiries and services provided to the public. Despite a comprehensive public information plan, the public inquiry supervisors had to create many processes and databases to deal with this flood event. Volunteer Command Post Peterborough Fire Department command post was deployed to provide a command structure for the coordination of firefighters and volunteers responding from outside communities

3 The Volunteer Command Center dealt with 503 volunteers from the following agencies over twelve days; o 28 Fire Departments from across Ontario o Mennonite Disaster Services o Buddhist Monk Organization o 2 Community Colleges o Amateur Radio Emergency Service o Auxiliary Coast Guard o O.V.E.R.T o Toronto Fire Services o Peterborough Fire The groups above provided approximately 8,400 person-hours in total pumping basements, cleaning out houses and helping to clear city streets. Electric Disconnects 500 homes and businesses had hydro meters pulled because of flooded basements With the help of Dr. Young and Emergency Management Ontario, the Emergency Control Group was able to have the electrical inspection process and fees waived by the Electrical Safety Authority for reconnections. Hundreds of water heaters, which had been damaged by the flood, also required replacement. The Peterborough Utility Services Board agreed to replace all damaged water heaters without the usual charges. Gas Disconnects Approximately 1,000 homes had the gas disconnected due to flooding With the help of Dr. Young and Emergency Management Ontario, the Emergency Control Group was able to have the gas inspection process and fees waived by the Technical Safety Standards Authority to allow contractors to reconnect the gas after inspecting appliances. Public Works On July 15th assisted rescue crews by transporting people trapped in vehicles. Cleaning up after the flood has had Public Works stretched in many directions. cleaning, repairing and inspecting City streets have consumed thousands of hours. Picking up the garbage and debris from resident s houses is still ongoing. At one point public works had to coordinate managing up to 80 garbage trucks in one day, not to mention the equipment and manpower that went with it. Approximately metric tones were placed in landfill from July 16th to the 27. The normal amount for that same period is generally 3000 metric tones. Provided frequent updates to the emergency control group on road conditions Environmental Services

4 Sewage flow rates on July 15th at the sewage treatment plant where over 54 million gallons, the normal averages for this time of year traditionally are 10 million gallons per day. Sewage flow rates Friday August 13th where still high at almost 16 million gallons. Environmental services have been working since the flood on getting pumping stations and the sewage treatment plant back to normal operating conditions. Given the fact that the flow rates are still high it will take some time to complete this task. Social Services Opened Evinrude Center as a reception and evacuation center for Extendicare Nursing Home Opened Lakefield High School as Evacuation site for County residents Opened Sir Sandford Fleming College as alternate evacuation center for city residents Opened Gzowski College as Evacuation Center Assisted in evacuation and relocation of 171 residents from Extendicare; relocated on interim basis to vacated Marycrest building by midnight July 15th; arranged food supply, engineering assistance etc. until hospital could assume full role in service provision (Expected date of return to original site September 15th) Transferred Evinrude reception center to Gzowski College; lodged 40+ volunteers and an average 40 evacuees/night; present status unchanged; served total of 125+ evacuees Served 10,000+ meals through Salvation Army Assisted and financed opening of Salvation Army We Care Center Brookdale Plaza Red Cross Provided 4,000+ household cleaning kits and 500+ personal care kits Projected budget estimates for both Red Cross and Salvation Army both exceed $250,000 Provided public who could remain at home with shower, meal and grocery supplies Opened Red Cross home assessment program through ISU; currently provided 600+ home visits Issued emergency clothing to people Issued emergency food to households Issued emergency financial assistance to 100+ households Expanded discretionary benefits available to ODSP/OW clients who required change in lodging; will follow up with landlord issues Engaged staffing assistance from Durham Region, Hastings County, City of Kawartha Lakes, Trenton ISU (9 staff/day added to base) Opened ODRAP information line at ISU; Opened Public Inquiry line at ISU; Logged calls since Tuesday August 3rd Staffing intensive housing retention program (I FTE) Staffing ODRAP Extreme Financial Hardship Committee (1 FTE)

5 Experience flooding in all ground floor areas of Social Service Department Reopened Peterborough Employment Resource Center August 9th Children s Services and Administration Office remains closed due to flood damage, mould etc; staff located in numerous alternate sites City Day Care centers remained operational and able to offer emergency day care to general public as well as assisted in remediation and reopening of damaged day care centers throughout city All base Social Service essential programs remained operational within MCSS standards through flood period serving exceptional level of client and general public demand Fire Response 1,868 basement pump-outs (including garages, backyards etc.) were completed by firefighters 196 rescues, which included 171 from Extendicare, the remaining were people trapped in and on cars. 1,000 gas disconnections were conducted 1 structure fire occurred at a commercial building on July 15th 2 roof collapses required responses 498 electrical disconnect calls 6 building evacuations 28 medical calls performed 28 motor vehicle accidents 22 automatic alarm responses 33 infrastructure problem calls 1 person trapped in elevator 6 calls for downed power lines 8 calls for carbon monoxide detectors Transit Supplied buses to assist with the evacuation of Extendicare Shuttled volunteers around to various locations throughout the City to assist with cleanup. Human Resources HR Department suspended all functions on July 19, 2004 to assist service departments respond to needs. Provided scheduling and leadership to Public Inquiry Center. Provided key personnel to the Public Information function in the EOC. Toured workplace sites to review health/ safety issues with Staff/Managers Provided scheduling/supervision to the ODRAP Cheque Distribution and Application Processes. Facilitated counseling services for Evacuation and Public Inquiry Centers.

6 Culture and Heritage Community Services where responsible for activating and reception and evacuation centers. The focus from the beginning was to use The Evinrude Center as a reception center. Residents who arrived at the Evinrude would then be transferred to the appropriate evacuation center. Trent University s Gzowski Campus was opened to house both reception and evacuation. This allowed social services to streamline operations by having everything under one roof The community arena manager and his staff took the lead in creating and implementing a screening process to respond and determine what each and every volunteers capability s where and what they where offering. Culture and Heritage where extremely busy dealing with damages to there own buildings. The main Library staff suffered extensive damage that could total 2,000,000. Other buildings effected where the Art Gallery and Queen Alex. At the marina silt deposits have formed at the mouth of Jackson Creek. The total damage is still being determined. Debriefings The Emergency Management Department has been hosting a series of debriefings with key departments and groups involved in the management and delivery of the flood. Results of the debriefings will be included in a final report at a later date. The debriefings will also assist Emergency Management with improving our Emergency Plan and assist with developing future recovery plans Emergency Management Department With every disaster there are always lessons to be always learned, the flood of 2004 is no different. Response and Recovery efforts throughout the flood have been outstanding by everyone involved. The Emergency Control Group in conjunction with the Emergency Management department will be providing Council with an in depth report detailing the entire management of the flood and bringing forth recommendations that will enhance the current emergency management plan for the City of Peterborough.