Municipal staff in the Town of Lake Cowichan were kept on their toes during last month’s windstorm.
Joseph Fernandez, the town’s CAO, said the power outages that kept much of Lake Cowichan in the dark and cold in the days after the windstorm struck on Dec. 20 were a challenge for almost everyone in the area.
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But he said town staff managed to use back-up generators to keep the water and sewer systems running through the crisis.
“We certainly did the best we could at the time,” Fernandez said.
“But we didn’t hear much from the public during those days because all the phone lines at the municipal hall were down. We do know there were major concerns with people having to deal with the cold in their homes, and with some of those who have health issues.”
Fernandez said the town has to consider what options are available to deal with situations when communications are interrupted to ensure people can contact municipal and other officials during emergencies like the windstorm, which saw winds gusting to up to 120 kilometres per hour, toppling trees and power lines all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
RELATED STORY: MORE THAN 300,000 WITHOUT POWER AT ONE POINT DUE TO B.C. WIND STORM
He said that, while the Cowichan Valley Regional District has an emergency plan to deal with crisis situations, it was not activated in Lake Cowichan during the windstorm.
“The weather at the time wasn’t really that cold and, at the end of the day, the fire department opened up Lake Cowichan Secondary School, which has emergency power, for people to come in and warm up,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said an emergency preparedness meeting will be held in Lake Cowichan on Jan. 23 and encouraged people to attend.
Hosted by the Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce, the meeting will bring together officials from numerous agencies and organizations who will form a panel that will provide information and answer questions as to what is expected of people and emergency services during events like the windstorm.
The meeting will be held in the Upper Centennial Hall in Lake Cowichan, beginning at 6 p.m.
“With climate change, I expect that storms like the one that struck the area may be the new norm, so we must prepare for them,” Fernandez said.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
