TSUNAMIPOLEPROJECT

AcollaborationofHaidaGwaiicommunitiesandpartners

LoriWiedeman(CAO)DanielFish(CAO)RubyDecock(CAO)

Background• HaidaGwaiiisanarchipelagoofover150islandslocatedoffofthenorthcoastofBritishColumbia.

•  Thereisanimpendingtsunamiriskacrossallcommunities,soitisimperativethatbothresidentsandvisitorsalikearepreparedandknowwherethehazardzonesandsafezonesareintheeventofatsunami.

• Withthisinmind,thecommunitiesacrossHaidaGwaiipartneredonthetsunamipoleprojectwithEMBC,BCHydroandTelus.“Preparationiskeytosurvivalintheeventofanearthquakeortsunami”GovernmentofBritishColumbia

TheChallenges

COMMUNICATION

We’reinatsunamihazardzonebutalsohavelimited

communicationpossibilitiesinsomeareas.

SIMPLICITY

Weneedtodeviseasystemthatisbotheasytomaintainandeasytounderstandbybothvisitorsandlocals.

CONSISTENCY

Weneedanapproachthatweareabletoimplementuniformlyacrossallour

communities.

OurSolution

• Communication:Visualindicatorspaintedonutilitypolestoinstructvisitorsandresidentsonwherethehazardzonesareandwhereitissafetogointheeventofatsunami.

• Simplicity:OurTsunamiPoleProjectutilisesexistinginfrastructure,caneasilybemaintained,cannotbestolenandiseasilyunderstood.

• Consistency:Weworkedtogethertoimplementthisacrossourcommunitiestoproduceauniversalapproach..

“EarthquakescanposeaserioustsunamithreathereonHaidaGwaii.Thisprojectisagreatexampleofourcommunitiesworkingtogethertoprovideaclearindicationofwherethesafezonesare.”

-GregMartin,FormerMayor,VillageofQueenCharlotte

Whatmadethisunique?

A UNIQUE COLLABORATION USE OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

Weworkedtogethertomaphydropolesacrossourislands

TelephonepolesacrossourcommunitiesweremappedusingLiDARdatafromCHN/FLNRORD

Usingaplanninglevelof10metersabovesealevelasasafezone,eachcommunitywas

mappedandcodedwithhazardandsafezones

Mapswerepreparedforeachcommunityidentifyingwhichpolestomark:heretheyarecodedwhereblue:safezoneandgreen,orangeandredarehazardzones

Thisproducedaclearmarkingsystemtobeusedacrossourcommunities

HazardZone EvacuationRoute SafeZone

Wedevelopedacommunicationsplantoimplementacrossourcommunities.

KeyMessage:Whatisthetsunamiriskandwhydoesitmatter?

KeyMessage:Whattodointheeventofatsunami?

Sincetheimplementation,wehaverecognizedkeyoutcomesofourproject

TSUNAMIAWARENESS

Residentsarenowmoreconsciousofthetsunamidangerandhavevisualremindersof

safezones

FUTUREPLANNING

Ourcommunitiesaremoreawareofthepossibilityofevacuationsandwehave

updatedourevacuationplans

ALLISLANDPLANNINGANDPREPAREDNESS

Werealizetheimportanceof

workingtogetherdespitebeingseparatedbydistance

Whatnext?•  Howdowecontinueincreasingpublicawarenessandunderstanding?

•  Howcanweintegratemorehighlevelemergencyplanningbetweencommunities?

•  Howcanwebuildonthesuccessofthetsunamipreparednessproject?

Wearecurrentlyrollingoutsignpostsatcampsitesandvisitorcentersacrossour

communities.

Reflections

LORIWIEDEMAN,CAO

“Thissimpleideahashelpedour

communitiescometogetherandlaunched

otherideasforcommunity

coordination”

RUBYDECOCK,CAO

“Ourcommunitiesarebuildingonthiswork

tobringmorecoordinationtoouremergencyplanning

onisland”

DANIELFISH,CAO

“AnotherbigsuccesshasbeentheePACTsystemwhichhas

simplifiedemergencycommunicationsforall

ourlocalgovernments”

ThankYouLoriWiedeman:cao@queencharlotte.ca|RubyDecock:cao@portclements.ca|DanielFish:cao@ncrdbc.com