Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - If everything goes according to plan, every community within the Strathcona Regional District will soon have emergency supplies at hand in case of an earthquake.
The topic came up within a larger conversation, in which SRD Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman described the emergency preparation grants the District is applying for.
I asked him, “Are you doing anything for earthquakes?”
“Not with any of the grans specifically. Unfortunately aside from the Union of BC Municipalities grants to help with communications, there is not a lot of funding for earthquake and seismic notation mapping. That is what it is. I do sit on the province’s Seismic Safety Council and I’ve advocated for that for a number of years,” said Koopman.
He added, “Through the Emergency Support services grant, we have been staging Seacans with a mixture of group lodging an post earthquake supplies in all of our rural communities. If all the dominos fall according to plan, this year every major area in the SRD, including Cortes Island, will have a Seacan in their area. Now it is not stocked with enough food, water and shelter for the whole island for two weeks, It is a bare bones start, but at least it is something.”
