Should Saanich develop an alert system comparable to the existing system in the City of Victoria?

That is just one of several questions that a future meeting of SaanichB次元官网网址檚 public service safety committee will consider, as Saanich and the Greater Victoria region grapple with the aftermath of TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 tsunami warning following an earthquake off Alaska that reached a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale.

While some residents received text alerts, many only heard of the warning, when they received early morning phone calls from friends and relatives, who were either living in other parts of British Columbia subject to the tsunami warning, or who were following the news on other continents.

Many (likely the majority of Greater Victoria residents) slept through the alert, unaware of the earthquake and the tsunami warning it triggered until they had heard from friends, or checked various news and social media channels.

This aspect has raised concerns about the regionB次元官网网址檚 ability to alert residents in cases of natural or human-made emergencies.

A survey of the 13 municipalities in the Capital Regional District (CRD) shows six municipalities notify the public in the event of an emergency. They include among others Victoria and Sidney. Since TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 earthquake and tsunami warning, their respective systems have seen significant surges in sign-ups.

Saanich B次元官网网址� the regionB次元官网网址檚 largest community B次元官网网址� lacks such a system though.

B次元官网网址淲hy Saanich doesnB次元官网网址檛 have its own alert system is a good question,B次元官网网址� said Mayor Richard Atwell, who chairs the public safety service safety committee. B次元官网网址淲hy every community needs its own system is another question that needs to be understood and addressed.B次元官网网址�

The committee also consists out of a council representative (Coun. Karen Harper), SaanichB次元官网网址檚 chief administrative officer, the fire chief, the chief constable, the director of engineering, and the emergency coordinator.

Capt. Maegan Thompson of SaanichB次元官网网址檚 emergency services program said Saanich , but such systems have limits. B次元官网网址淥ne thing is that they are subscriber based, and not all the people in the affected area,B次元官网网址� she said.

This aspect has raised the question of whether the region should introduce a system based on sirens, similar to systems in more rural regions of the province, such as the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Speaking with the Saanich B次元官网网址 Tuesday,

Emergency plans for various types of disasters rely on matching mathematical probabilities with geography. For example, TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 tsunami warning was of great concern to the three Saanich areas identified as a tsunami hazard zones: Cordova Bay, and Portage Inlet. But for the rest of Saanich B次元官网网址� in fact, most of it B次元官网网址� TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 tsunami warning would have been of a theoretical nature.

B次元官网网址淎 bigger question is how prepared are we in Saanich and the greater region,B次元官网网址� said Atwell. B次元官网网址淗ow will we fare if the earthquake happened on our doorstep instead of hours away up in Alaska?B次元官网网址�

This said, failure to accurately share public information in a timely manner can have far-reaching consequences: see the recent panic in the U.S. state of Hawaii, where a state employee sent millions into panic after falsely warning millions about incoming missiles by pushing the wrong button.