Recently the Little Qualicum/Dashwood area ran into a potential major water emergency, but thanks to a community organized Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness (NEP) group, the situation was kept under control.
Deterioration had caused a major leak in a water main under the Little Qualicum River bridge and while the local water board arranged for repairs, the area had to rely on minimal water from the storage tower.
The water board posted notices on mailboxes in the area, which were seen by resident Susan Mohan, who started up the NEP group about a year ago.
“My husband died four years ago and I thought well, what if there’s an emergency? I know lots of people but still it’s good to have a group that you can sort of rely on.”
Mohan got in contact with Bob Dendoff, the Regional District of Nanaimo’s (RDN) Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program Facilitator who offered a couple information sessions. These free sessions included PowerPoint presentations on emergency preparedness which helped facilitate a plan for the area including details on a neighborhood inventory and local skills.
Mohan signed up members of her local breakfast club and had 48 houses on-board, a large number for one of these groups, said Dendoff.
“This particular group is fairly large and more successful of the groups because they manage to get together and do a lot of their own planning,” he said. “They’ve really pulled the neighborhood together and by doing that they’ve learned that they can work together as neighbors working with neighbors.”
Dendoff said after he mentored the group they took ownership of their emergency plan and now touch base only when they need to.
With this particular problem Mohan contacted Dendoff who gave a couple of suggestions, but he said the group mostly handled it successfully on their own.
“It could have gone the wrong way for them and caused a lot of problems, losing the water supply and all this stuff. But they jumped on it right away and dealt with it,” he said.
Mohan said she immediately e-mailed everyone in the group, who in turn contacted others in the area, and gave suggestions like filling up containers, stop watering lawns, taking minimal showers and only doing emergency laundry.
The group also contacted Quality Foods about the potential situation who set aside extra bottled water if needed.
Mohan said the water board did a fantastic job and let her know a short time after discovering the leak the work would be completed in about three days.
Many people did follow the water conservation suggestions, Mohan said, and the area did not run out of water.
She said getting to know your neighbours is a good idea, as they can be helpful in emergencies both big and small.
“Emergencies aren’t just earthquakes and fires, emergencies can be a tree falling in your yard,” she explained. “My dog needed to go to the vet and I couldn’t lift him he was too heavy… so you should get to know and stay connected with your neighbours.”
Twelve new residences have signed up with the program bringing the number up to 60 in the Little Qualicum area.
