Is Ottawa prepared for natural disaster?
Posted Jun 26, 2013 06:13:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – If flash floods hit Ottawa, would the city be prepared to handle such a disaster?
Municipal officials do have emergency plans in place and are ready to act if necessary. Emergency personnel are ready to take immediate action, and have been practicing.
“The city rehearses twice a year,” said Chief of Security and Emergency Management Pierre Poirier. “We do exercises where we take a look at things that may be on our list of top vulnerabilities.”
With two rivers running through Ottawa, Poirier said flooding is a very real possibility; however, it wouldn’t be to the same degree as Calgary because our geography is different.
Poirier said he is keeping a close eye on the situation and response in Calgary to see if we can learn any lessons.
“I think when disasters unfold like this, you’re always thinking about how we would do it,” Poirier said. “We’ll take a look over time, and over the weeks and months to come on how they responded, how they’re decision making took place and what we can learn from what they’ve experienced.”
Poirier adds that it’s not just police and fire crews that need to be prepared, but residents too. He said you need to have enough supplies in your home to survive for three days without any assistance.
