As the song goes, when the levee breaks, momma you’ve got to go, but where Mr. Plant? And what if (the far more likely around here) wildfire breaks out instead like it did on the other side of the lake, burning a mountainside of trees or cutting off power?
And then what happens?
Eighteen staff members, RCMP and volunteers in communities from Revelstoke to Nelson and beyond came to the Nakusp Emergency Services Building to learn about planning for community disaster recovery.
Recovery starts right at response, Nakusp Fire Chief Terry Warren told the Arrow Lakes News, and continues to help people, businesses and communities recover. Getting infrastructure back on line, groceries back on shelves and dealing with the psychosocial issues that come with disaster is all key.
Although planning is specific for each community, regions typically face similar challenges so integration is important, said Warren. The Community Disaster Recovery course was an opportunity to look at different case studies that may be relevant in local areas and to learn about new plans for recovery.
After a disaster a community is never what it was, Warren acknowledges, but recovery builds on resilience and aims to build in resilience.
Resilience is key, the fire chief explained. Recovery efforts are helped hugely by individual preparedness, he emphasized.
“People have to prepare,” he said, but few families or individuals are ready to face five days without power or know what to do if their house catches fire. Warren knows there are people who are prepared, but he would like to see that be a more common situation.
“In the old days people were more self reliant,” he commented, “we’re so reliant on power nowadays.”
Prepared people who are self reliant take the burden off first responders if a major disaster does strike, allowing them to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves, said Warren.
There are other ways people can help in addition to making sure their family will be able to survive for five days without power and having a fire escape plan, he told the Arrow Lakes News. Cleaning brush and other flammables out that could spread fire off their property is another one, and volunteering as a first responder another great way to contribute the chief said.
Nakusp Fire Department, Road Rescue and Arrow Lakes Search and Rescue are always on the lookout for more volunteers and are always training and practising in order to be ready for disaster and recovery.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and there are all kinds of prevention. If you have any questions about emergency services in Nakusp or Area K, Terry Warren can be reached at his office the Emergency Services Building.