On April 16, as smoke choked the town, the official advice was to ‘shelter in place’ – to head inside and close windows and doors. By morning the advisory was lifted, but if we’d had to shelter for longer, would we have been prepared?
Alexis Kraig, emergency coordinator for the District of Squamish, encourages all households to prepare for being self-sufficient for a minimum of 72 hours and up to a week.
We’re a hazard-prone community, she says, explaining that we can face 48 different kinds of hazards in total, so it’s not a case of if but when something will happen. Flooding, severe weather and wildfires are just three, but we’re prone to unexpected ones too, like the recent rockslide and commercial fire.
To best prepare your family for survival, Kraig recommends assessing the overall safety of your house by doing a hazard hunt. “Look around and see how things are laid out.… For earthquake protection, you would be looking at what’s going to fall on you,” she says. Residents should secure bookshelves and wall pictures, for example.
She also recommends testing fire alarms regularly, being aware of trees on your property in case of wildfires, and avoiding storing prized possessions in basements or on the ground floor in case of flooding.
Families should prepare and practise their emergency plan, says Kraig, making sure everyone knows how to exit the house, whom to contact in an emergency, and where to meet if you become separated. “This would be a great opportunity for the kids to build grab and go bags, to pick up those bags and leave,” she says. Families must also consider pets and how they might be affected.
The grab and go emergency kit is a waterproof, easy-to-carry sturdy bag or container, she says.
“It contains essential needs that will sustain you for between 12 and 24 hours, including some key pieces such as warm clothing and sensible shoes…. It also has some food, water, money in small denominations, and photocopies of all your essential papers on a memory stick.” And ideally, she says, it should be stored by an exit such as the front door.
The district’s Household Emergency Action Plan, as explained on the website at squamish.ca, also suggests, among other things, a first aid kit, a crank radio, whistles, a flashlight, a copy of your family emergency plan, and any medication.
It’s a kit we should have at home, at work and in the car, Kraig says. She suggests also having a larger travel kit for the car. “You can put a bit more into it in terms of blankets and extra first aid kits,” as well as a tow rope and basic tools, she says.
Finally, the larger, household shelter-in-place kit provides everything a family may need for between 72 hours to a week, including a large quantity of food and clothing, she says. “I always recommend people put in food that they like and eat on a regular basis… some comfort foods or your favourite chocolate bars, or high-energy, high-calorie meals,” she says. You might also want to include something to read or an activity to keep you occupied.
Ready-made emergency kits are available online, she says, though you may already have much of what you need around the house. And hardware stores should be able to help you find the rest.
When building your kits, Kraig emphasizes tackling it in smaller chunks. “People get really overwhelmed with how to become personally prepared. We have a “26 Weeks to Preparedness” handout…. It’s an easy thing you can do with your family where just once a week you have a small aspect to tackle.” The handout is available online at www.embc.gov.bc.ca.
In addition to being prepared, a great strength that will help Squamish through an emergency, she says, is the sense of community.
“In a disaster, it’s going to be neighbours who help you the most. So one of the most effective steps to prepare yourself for an emergency is to get to know them… so that when we do have an event, we’ll probably know who lives besides us and we’ll know that the person four doors down is someone who’s 96 years old and needs a little more help.”
To learn more about emergency preparedness, visit www.preparesquamish.ca, www.getprepared.gc.ca, and www.squamish.ca. During Emergency Preparedness Week May 3 to 9, Kraig and her team will be at locations throughout Squamish offering help and advice.
