More than 40 residents walked away with a better understanding of emergency preparedness from a meeting in Bowser hosted by the regional district on Thursday night.
Manager of building, bylaw and emergency planning services Tom Armet said the meeting was specifically designed as a follow-up to a four-day storm that rocked the Little Qualicum River Village area last winter, causing at least one major landslide and a number of evacuations.
"It was a pretty informative meeting," said Armet. "The goal of the meeting was to engage residents in disaster resilience planning and to give them a general overview of weather events, the RDN's role and some next steps in moving forward to be better prepared for future events that may occur."
Many people are unaware of the resources available to them during an emergency. For example, Oceanside Emergency Social Services provides basic services like accommodations, transportation, housing and food in the 72 hours following an emergency.
Additionally, the regional district offers a neighbourhood emergency preparedness program to those interested in building disaster resilience. For more information on emergency preparedness or the role of the regional district in emergencies, contact emergency planning co ordinator Jani Drew at 250-390-6526 or e-mail emergency planning@rdn.bc.ca.