The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) is encouraging residents to use Emergency Preparedness Week, May 4 to 10, as an opportunity to take action and plan ahead.
In It Together, this year's theme, serves as a reminder that preparing for emergencies is a shared responsibility. Whether it’s a wildfire, flood, or power outage, everyone is able to respond quickly and recover stronger when working together.
“If there’s one thing emergency events have taught us, it’s that no one is in this alone,” said Dan Séguin, RDCK Manager of Community Sustainability. “Preparedness starts at home, but it doesn’t stop there. Checking in on a neighbour, planning with family, or signing up for emergency alerts, every action helps build a safer and better prepared region.”
As part of Emergency Preparedness Week, the RDCK conducted its annual test of the Emergency Notification System on Monday. Anyone registered with the RDCK’s Emergency Notification System would have received a test notification by text, email, landline, or through the Voyent Alert! app – depending on their chosen settings.
Those who are new to the area or have not yet signed up for emergency notifications, can go to www.rdck.ca/EmergencyNotification to do so. To ensure important emergency information is received, it is imperative that residents update their account with accurate location information.
Emergency Preparedness Week is a good time to take these steps to improve readiness:
- Sign up to receive RDCK Emergency Notifications or login to update your set locations
- Prepare a grab-and-go kit
- Make a home emergency plan
- Plan for pets
- Check in with community neighbours
- Create an evacuation plan
- Learn more about emergency preparedness through additional resources
The RDCK will share preparedness tips on Facebook throughout the week. More resources, such as a home mergency plan template and guide to building a grab-and-go bag, can be found at www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-management/preparedbc.
