Emergency Preparedness

This has certainly been the hot topic of conversation after the devastation that has hit Japan. I would like to start by clearing up some of the rumours floating around about the potential of the Tsunami hitting Sooke.
First off, the letter to the editor in the Mirror was not correct in that the first warning for Sooke came at 8:00 am. I as Emergency Coordinator was notified by phone (three different phones) email and fax at 12:45 by PEP of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The first message was an Advisory - this is the lowest warning level there is. This was later updated to a warning (the second of the three levels) that a tsunami had formed in the Pacific Ocean and was heading towards North and South America. In all of the warnings and advisories that were issued, Sooke was not in the impact zone. In fact all areas South of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island were not in the danger zone. In spite of this and for due deligence purposes and to be available if people called and had concerns, I activated the Sooke EOC to a Level 1 situation. I also sent an email to all DOS staff and Fire Department members advising them of what was going on. As there was no danger to Sooke, I did not ask for any additional staff to come in. My plan was to wait and see what happened in Hawaii and then wait for further updates. Once the wave hit Hawaii, the experts still felt that Sooke was in no danger. The wave was scheduled to hit the west coast of the Island around 7:00 am, so as a precaution I had Rescue 1 stage at Whiffin Spit to monitor the situation and advise anyone coming down that walking on the beach might not be a good idea. By 8:30, nothing noticeable had been reported and the crew was called back. All in all though, it was a good learning exercise.

As for some other questions that people have asked. No Sooke will not be building a sea wall around the District of Sooke. NO we do not have any Tsunami warning sirens. And finally, we did have Tsunami Warning Signs that were placed at low areas in the District as well as Evacuation Route Signs. Due to many local persons complaining before Council that the signs were lowering their property values, all the signs were removed. As for how to warn people if a Tsunami were approaching Sooke, the only current method we have would be to use the PA Systems on the emergency vehicles and go door to door warning people in low lying areas (provided we received enough warning time) Currently there is no budget to allow for any additional tsunami warning systems in this area.

From what the "Experts" have told us, Sooke is at a fairly low risk for a tsunami due to our unique topogrophy and harbour location. The maximum wave height that might be anticipated is not expected to exceed 1 meter for this area. Areas that are much more at risk would be Jordan River, Port Renfrew and apparently Esquimalt.

Hope that clears things up for people.