BC Flood Emergency Preparedness

Transcription

1 BC Flood Emergency Preparedness If you are injured or experience a life threatening incident, you should immediately call 911 or your local emergency number. To report an emergency or disaster in British Columbia, your first point of contact is Emergency Management British Columbia (EMBC) at This connects to EMBC s 24/7 Emergency Coordination Centre. Regional office contacts for EMBC are also included in this information package. Emergencies can happen at any time. We encourage you to stay informed of events happening in your region by visiting these websites regularly and registering for any notifications or bulletins available to you. For specific flood advisories and warnings, visit the BC River Forecast Centre at For weather bulletins, visit Environment Canada s website: For current emergency management activities such as floods, fires, and earthquakes, visit EMBC s website: For information regarding Emergency Management Preparedness for individuals and families, visit Public Safety Canada s website: For additional flood preparedness information, visit EMBC s site:

2 -2- Sandbagging Frequently Asked Questions and Answers With careful advance planning, including identifying the critical community property and infrastructure that need protecting, sandbagging can be an effective tool in managing a flood event in your community. It is important to pre-determine when you might need to take action based on historical knowledge, rate of water rise, and assets at risk. Do not wait until the last minute to initiate action as it will be too late. Keep in mind that sandbagging is time and labour intensive. Also, all emergency response expenditures require prior authorization for reimbursement. 1. How do I order sandbags? Sandbag requests can be made to Emergency Management British Columbia (EMBC) via a request to your responsible EMBC regional office. (see page 7) Sandbags are deployed from the provincial warehouse in Chilliwack. It is important to note that once an order is filled, EMBC will not accept returns. Order only the number of sandbags required. Unused bags must be stored by your community in a dry location or they will deteriorate. Sandbags come in pallets of 3,000 burlap bags. 2. Where do I get sand? Sand may be procurred from a local works yard or a quarry, unless there is a preferred local supplier. Find out in advance of flooding where you can get sand, should it be needed. 3. Who covers the cost of sand? Sand is an eligible response cost for which you will be reimbursed as long as proper receipts are kept and an eligible task number has been provided by EMBC. You will need prior approval at all times for reimbursement. The delivery, cost of sandbags, sand, mechanized sandbagging machine, etc. are all covered under the assigned EMBC task number as an eligible response cost with prior approval. 4. Who is in charge of transporting the sandbags to my community? EMBC will have them delivered directly to a specified drop-off location via a contract transportation company. You will be responsible for picking up the sandbags at that point. (Quantities range between 3,000

3 to 4,000 bags per pallet). A truck with a flat bed or flat bed trailer is required for transport. For delivery, a contact person, address and 24/7 phone number(s) must be provided. 5. Can sandbags be re-used? Sandbags should only be used once and then disposed. 6. How do I dispose of used sandbags? Is there an associated cost for disposal? Used sandbags can be disposed in landfills due to the biodegradable nature of burlap bags. Any disposal costs will be reimbursed under the same flood event Task Number, provided disposal takes place the same fiscal year. Sandbags that are contaminated by hazardous materials must be dealt with in accordance to the Ministry of Environment s instructions. This support can be obtained from EMBC regional offices. 7. What do I do with the sand that is left in the community? It is up to the community to dispose of the sand. It can be used for top dressing of lawn, fill on site, etc.

4 Volunteers and Sandbagging Your community may need volunteers to assist with sandbagging. Volunteers work together to provide an unpaid service to the community in an effort to protect each others homes, businesses, and infrastructure. In preparation for flooding, your community may wish to identify volunteers in advance. Here are some key points to remember when enlisting the help of volunteers. 1. Volunteer labour is an unpaid service. No one gets paid. 2. Make sure your community has received approval from EMBC and/or AANDC and obtained a Task Number. 3. Make sure that all volunteers sign on a Sign in Sheet (also called a Task Registration Sheet). Once the volunteers have signed in on the Sign in Sheet and the Task Number has been accurately recorded the volunteer is covered under Work Safe. This must be done daily. 4. The community will be reimbursed for volunteer meals, if provided by the community or the local municipal government, at the Provincial Group 1 Rate. 5. Water, coffee, tea, and pop expenses for the care of the volunteers will also be reimbursed when receipts are provided by the local government. 6. Neither EMBC nor AANDC will provide boots, safety vests, gloves, hard hats or safety glasses for any volunteers. If you are going to have individuals working from the community as volunteers, ensure that they come prepared with the above gear. The community will be responsible and liable for any and all person(s) that are not properly protected. 7. Volunteers must receive instruction on the proper way to: Fill a sandbag Lift and carry a sandbag Stack a sandbag Act safely around heavy machinery 8. Individuals with medical issues should not be involved in the sandbagging process. 9. Children should not be in the vicinity of a sandbagging operation. 10. Once the flood event is over the clean sand can be distributed in the general area. 11. The uncontaminated wet sandbags should be collected and transported to the local landfill.

5 Emergency Management BC Offices South West Region th Avenue Surrey, B.C. V3V 7Z2 Tel: (604) Fax: (604) South East Region 403 Vernon Street Nelson, B.C. V1L 4E6 Tel: (250) Fax: (250) North West Region Suite 1B Eby Street Terrace, B.C. V8G 2X8 Tel: (250) Fax: (250) Central Region 1255-D Dalhousie Drive Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5Z5 Tel: (250) Fax: (250) North East Region 3235 Westwood Drive Prince George, B.C. V2N 1S4 Tel: (250) Fax: (250) Vancouver Island Region Block A - Suite Keating Cross Road Saanichton B.C. V8M 2A5 Tel: (250) Fax: (250)

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