B.C.sa国际传媒檚 West Coast woke up to text alerts and closed shorelines Saturday morning as
Tofino mayor Dan Law told Black Press Media that the districtsa国际传媒檚 emergency operations centre was activated shortly after 5 a.m. and sent out emergency notifications to local phones through its Voyent Alert program as well as through social media channels.
sa国际传媒淚n the event of an emergency, communication is key,sa国际传媒� Law said. sa国际传媒淭he word was out so fast and it was so widespread that it seemed like most people knew what was going on.sa国际传媒�
Tsunami all clear! Thanks for the updates from . Everyone is asked to use caution at local beaches and be !
sa国际传媒� Josie Osborne (@Josie_Osborne)
He said shorelines were immediately closed, tsunami sirens were activated and local RCMP combed the beaches to ensure everyone was aware of the tsunami advisory.
sa国际传媒淭here were still obviously people on the beaches, but we did get the word out that the beaches were closed, to stay off the beaches and out of the water because of the risk of increased currents, the possibility of increased wave heights and unpredictable wave behaviour,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 again proud of our Emergency Operations Centre personnel, the RCMP, the Coast Guard and all of our emergency systems. Isa国际传媒檓 very thankful that we live in a society that takes this seriously and everybodysa国际传媒檚 working together for the betterment of the whole.sa国际传媒�
Uclueletsa国际传媒檚 shoreline areas were also closed and mayor Mayco Noel was thrilled with how quickly and efficiently the districtsa国际传媒檚 emergency operations centre alerted residents of the situation.
sa国际传媒淭here was no hesitation, we got the advisory and promptly posted it and I think it went really well,sa国际传媒� Noel told the Westerly News.
He explained that Uclueletsa国际传媒檚 tsunami sirens were not activated as they are reserved for rapidly incoming emergencies.
sa国际传媒淭hat means wesa国际传媒檝e got something immediate thatsa国际传媒檚 coming towards our shoreline and go to high ground,sa国际传媒� he said.
Both Law and Noel are urging residents to sign up for their districtsa国际传媒檚 emergency notification programs at www.ucluelet.ca and www.tofino.ca.
sa国际传媒淭here are local emergencies that residents may need to know in a prompt fashion, signing up for this makes it a lot easier and streamlines the process for the district, rather than having a bunch of firefighters knocking on every door,sa国际传媒� Noel said. sa国际传媒淭hank you to those who have signed up and if you havensa国际传媒檛 signed up, please sign up.sa国际传媒�
The advisory lasted over eight hours and Law said the Emergency Operations Centre remained active, monitoring all of the information coming from the province before eventually standing down in the afternoon.
sa国际传媒淭he more advisories we have, hopefully the more people will be prepared,sa国际传媒� Law said. sa国际传媒淭hese events are a fantastic time for people to get up to speed on communication, up to speed on emergency preparedness and, each time it happens, I hope people really do review the process, build on strengths and certainly use the chance to prepare for future events.sa国际传媒�
He added all West Coasters should be aware of their tsunami evacuation routes to high ground and have emergency preparedness kits packed and ready to go.
sa国际传媒淚 think that the more people are aware, the more it will become part of the norm to be prepared,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚t will become part of the norm that we live in an area thatsa国际传媒檚 prone to these emergencies and that we have to be prepared as part of our everyday life.sa国际传媒�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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