ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: April 8, 1998

Author/Local:H. Lyle/7291

P. Marfleet/601-3401

CC File No. 3603

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Risk & Emergency Management in conjunction with the Emergency Management Committee
SUBJECT:	Status Report on Emergency Management in the City

INFORMATION

The City Manager submits this report for information.

COUNCIL POLICY

In 1990, Council identified Emergency Preparedness as one of the City’s seven corporate priorities and supported the continuation of an expanded work program in this area.

SUMMARY

The Auditor General has submitted a report, "Earthquake Preparedness Performance Audit", which reviews the work of the Province and municipal governments on earthquake preparedness. The report expresses a number of concerns; it does not comment on the work of individual municipal governments.

The City of Vancouver has been very active in earthquake preparedness over the last several years:

•earthquake exercises have been conducted;

•emergency plans are being updated;

•preliminary evaluation of the earthquake resistance of city buildings and a significant number of private buildings has been completed;

•Emergency Social Services planning and exercises continue actively;

•the City has developed the only Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team in Canada;

•the City has been a significant participant in the provincial-municipal Joint Emergency Liaison Committee; and

•public education and information on emergency preparedness is maintained on a continuing basis.

The City has committed significant funds for facility upgrading and earthquake response capability:

•the development of a $40 million "hardened" water system and salt water pumping stations for firefighting in the event of loss of water supply;

•enhanced Fire Department equipment to provide for relay pumping by fire trucks from the salt water system to increase area coverage and "drafting" fire fighting water supply from the Fraser River;

•earthquake upgrading of all City Bridges, to be completed in 2000, at a total cost of $11 million;

•continuing replacement of City fire halls; and

•through the E-Comm project, development of a state of the art communications system for fire and police, a new Emergency Operations Centre for Vancouver, and a Regional Emergency Communications Centre (Vancouver City Council’s early financial and political support for this major project literally made E-Comm possible).

These significant efforts relate to the mitigation and response efforts in response to an earthquake or major emergency, and deal with protecting property and life safety. The City’s focus has largely been in this area. The Auditor General’s report notes that continuation and recovery plans are largely unaddressed in the Province. The next eighteen months will see the completion of much of the infrastructure upgrading currently underway, and emphasis will shift to response and recovery.

The Emergency Management Committee believes that the City has made very substantial progress in emergency and earthquake preparedness over the last few years, and that completion of the work currently underway will significantly enhance the City’s capability in this area.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to update Council on the progress of emergency management initiatives ongoing in the City, particularly in light of the Auditor General’s recent Earthquake Preparedness Performance Audit, and to inform Council of Emergency Preparedness Week events, scheduled for May 3-9, 1998.

BACKGROUND

The Auditor General recently issued an Earthquake Performance Audit. The purpose of the audit was to assess the degree to which governments in British Columbia are prepared for a major earthquake, and to determine what actions, if any, are needed to raise the level of preparedness to an adequate standard. This included examining the governments’ roles in mitigating the potential impacts of a major earthquake, studying the extent to which current, tested plans are in place for responding in the immediate aftermath of such a major disaster, and looking at the capability of governments to continue to provide essential services to the public through continuation and recovery plans. A copy of the Report is on file in the City Clerk’s Office.

Emergency management in Vancouver encompasses initiatives which improve the City’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a major disaster, such as an earthquake. The focus is on improving the preparedness of City operations and facilities and improving the overall preparedness of the community.

The City has focussed its emergency planning and preparedness on a major earthquake. While the City could experience other disasters, being prepared for a major earthquake will ensure the City can cope with other, less catastrophic emergencies.

DISCUSSION

The sections of the provincial audit that relate to the City are concerned with understanding the hazards, risks and vulnerabilities associated with a major earthquake, mitigation, planning for response and planning for recovery. For ease of reporting, this sequence will be followed in this report.

UNDERSTANDING THE HAZARDS, RISKS AND VULNERABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE

The Auditor General’s report makes the observation that a good understanding of hazards, risks and vulnerabilities associated with a major earthquake is of fundamental importance and should be reflected in the emergency planning decision process. The report makes a further observation that the provincial government and local governments are, in a general sense, aware of these factors but they have not yet developed specific scenarios to assess the likely impacts of a major earthquake on their citizens, critical facilities, lifelines and economies. The report concludes that consequently, local governments may experience difficulty in preparing mitigation, response and recovery plans effectively.

The City has done a seismic assessment of its own buildings, and a preliminary assessment of potentially vulnerable private buildings. It has assessed its bridges and utility systems. It has not undertaken a comprehensive hazard, risk and vulnerability study as is envisioned in the report, since this would include schools, hospitals, and other facilities which are the responsibility of other governments.

The provincial audit notes that the Provincial Emergency Program is required by legislation to prepare and maintain a hazard, risk and vulnerability study identifying potential emergencies and disasters affecting all or any part of British Columbia. It would be desirable to develop a more comprehensive system and a computer based information system. However, this would be a major and expensive undertaking and therefore duplication of effort among municipalities should be minimized. The Provincial-municipal Joint Emergency Liaison Committee has addressed some related issues. Staff concur with the conclusion in the report that the Provincial Emergency Program has "a key role in being a catalyst for this future development" and will urge the Provincial Emergency Program to assume this role.

MITIGATION

The provincial audit, in the context of actions to be taken to minimize the effects of a major earthquake on people and property, relates mitigation with building codes, land use, public awareness, insurance and retrofitting.

(i) Building Codes

The Auditor’s report notes that the National Building Code of Canada, which forms the basis for the Vancouver Building By-Law, reflects the latest knowledge of seismic hazards. As such the hazards associated with a major earthquake are adequately addressed, with the exception of modern wood frame buildings. While Vancouver’s current Building By-Law does not contain seismic design components for this type of construction, the new Vancouver Building By-Law, currently in preparation, will incorporate them.

(ii) Land Use

The Auditor’s report notes that, in relation to land use planning, local governments need both soil and geologic information to properly assess earthquake hazards. The main use of this process is as a predictive tool for land use decisions and emergency planning as it involves the identification of the location of active faults and areas susceptible to liquefaction,landslide or soft soil conditions. In an urban area such as Vancouver, which is essentially fully developed, information of this type is available for portions of the area. It is incorporated into the analysis of City facilities, which has lead to earthquake upgrading of utility systems and bridges.

(iii) Public Awareness

Risk and Emergency Management distributes more than 50,000 pamphlets every year to residents and businesses on earthquake preparedness and other emergency safety initiatives. Printed materials are available at City Hall, Fire Halls, Community Centres, Libraries, Health Units, and Community Policing offices. The earthquake pamphlets are available in six languages: English, French, Spanish, Punjabi, Chinese and Vietnamese. Information on emergency preparedness is also available on the City’s home page on the Internet at http:/www.city.vancouver.bc.ca.

Each year staff make a limited number of presentations to community groups, businesses, volunteer organizations and to day care centres and special care facilities. To make this information more accessible personal and family emergency preparedness courses will be offered at most City community centres as part of their spring and fall training activities. Recently a volunteer speaker pool has also been developed to provide public presentations and training programs in emergency preparedness, emergency social services and neighbourhood preparedness.

Emergency Preparedness Canada, at the federal level, provides emergency preparedness brochures and participates at conferences. The Provincial Emergency Program distributes pamphlets and brochures, participates in conferences and the annual Emergency Preparedness Week campaign and maintains an Internet web site.

The telephone book white pages contain information on earthquake preparedness.

Despite these efforts to increase public preparedness, a study cited in the provincial audit confirms the view that the public is not well prepared. The 1995 survey (Environics Research Group Ltd., Emergency Preparedness: Canadian Attitudes and Behaviour) found that 52% of British Colombians said they did not have enough information on how to prepare for emergencies, and 62% thought they did not have enough information on the natural and human-made risks in their own communities. As such, the provincial audit report comment that the Provincial Emergency Program "should play a greater role in supporting a coordinated, consistent approach to public awareness programs across the Province" is appropriate.

(iv) Insurance

The role of insurance is not directly related to the City’s emergency management initiatives, it being, as recommended in the provincial audit report, for the provincial government to "determine the role that insurance should play in mitigation, and define the most appropriate regime through which it can be offered to the public".

(v) Retrofitting

With regard to retrofitting, the provincial audit report views positively the work undertaken at significant cost to upgrade the provincial and municipal infrastructure but comments that there has not been a coordinated approach to the effort, and that there has not been an organized approach to assessing hazardous buildings.

These comments are generally applicable on a regional basis. The Joint Emergency Liaison Committee has address some of these issues, and some progress has been made. For example, earthquake resistant regional emergency routes have been agreed to and signed, and a template has been developed for review of municipal water systems as part of a coordinated regional system review.

With Vancouver, a number of major activities have taken place. An $11 million project to seismically upgrade the City’s main transportation or ‘lifeline’ bridges is nearing completion. The First Avenue Viaduct and the Granville Street Bridge have been completed. The first phase reinforcement of the main span of the Burrard Bridge is complete with the final phase of reinforcement of the approaches being planned for the year 2000. Other bridges, such as Cambie, Clarke Drive, Victoria, Broadway, Woodland, Commercial Drive and Canada Place Viaduct are relatively new and meet current building codes.

The provincial audit report quotes a Greater Vancouver Water District Vulnerability Study which indicates that for a major earthquake, the regional water distribution system could be "severely impacted". The City and the GVRD have been leaders in the assessment of the water system. To ensure an adequate supply of water for firefighting, Engineering Services is in the process of completing a $48 million project to build a system of hardened water distribution mains and saltwater pumping stations, serving the downtown peninsula and Kitsilano. Stations at False Creek and Coal Harbour have been completed as well as the pipeline linking the two stations. For better access to alternate water supplies the City has installed a drafting station on the Fraser River at Gladstone park which will permit Fire and Rescue Services to relay pump to fire locations in this area. Additional drafting station sites along the Fraser River are being examined.

In addition, Engineering Services will utilize wells on the Langara and Musqueam golf courses in addition to a well situated at Oakridge to provide alternative sources of drinking water. The GVRD has proposed the construction of a large water mainline from Coquitlam Lake to the Little Mountain Reservoir which will also provide an additional source of drinking water. Vancouver hospitals are currently investigating the feasibility of storing water on their respective sites.

With regard to assessment of hazardous buildings, the City has completed a structural review of all civic buildings. Older fire halls are being replaced and upgraded on a regular basis in each capital plan. The issue of earthquake upgrading of other facilities, including community centres, will be assessed in greater detail in the next capital plan process.

A consultant study has reviewed the earthquake resistance of typical privately-owned, older, multi-occupancy buildings, totalling some 1100 properties. The study provides an assessment of the vulnerability of older building stock and investigates the cost/benefit implications of various upgrading schemes and other information on which to base City policy. This is a complex and challenging issue; a report on potential approaches will be forthcoming to Council in the near future.

PLANNING FOR RESPONSE

A) Emergency Plans

The provincial audit report comments that some jurisdictions have taken the earthquake threat very seriously and are continuing to improve their response plans. Such is the case in the City. The City’s key emergency response departments such as Police, Fire, Engineering, Permits and Licenses, Park Board (Emergency Social Services) and Health Board are expected to have their departmental emergency plans updated by May 1998. The focus of the plans is on preparedness for, response to and recovery of normal operations from a major emergency or a disaster. The plans include damage assessment of civic and private buildings as well as debris removal, and have been prepared in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Provincial Emergency Program.

In addition, a multi-departmental work group has identified the roles and responsibilities of City departments in the City’s Emergency Operations Centre. The City’s EOC is comprised of the following sections: policy, operations, planning and intelligence, logistics, administration, amateur radio and emergency public information. The non-response departments within the City have commenced preparation of their departmental plans. The focus of these plans will also be on preparedness, response and recovery but with emphasis on evacuation of the staff and public from civic buildings, facility damage assessment and return to normal business operations.

The emergency plans will be utilized immediately on their completion as a basis for scheduled training, testing and exercises.

B) Exercises

Exercises conducted over the past year include:

•Emergency Operations Centre sections (Policy, Operations, Emergency Public Information, Planning and Intelligence, Logistics, and Administration) were involved in an orientation and scenario-based discussion in January 1997.

•Emergency Operations Centre Planning group conducted a table-top exercise in April 1997.

•Engineering Services, Police and Fire and Rescue Services conducted independent drills and exercises throughout the year.

•Emergency Social Services conducted a full-scale emergency reception centre exercise in May 1997 at the Dunbar Community Centre.

•Emergency Operations Centre was activated for seven days during the APEC Conference in November 1997. Three table-top exercises were conducted during the activation to help train staff in emergency operations and departmental coordination.

Risk & Emergency Management staff will continue to coordinate and conduct at least two exercises a year. Additional exercises will be conducted in preparation for the opening of the new E-Comm Emergency Communications Centre facility which will house the City’s Emergency Operations Centre.

C) Training

An estimated 6,000 City employees have received training in personal, family and work emergency preparedness. A core group of 45 trainers has been established to ensure that all staff receive this training. Fire & Rescue Services have developed a three-day training course for City Hall Emergency Response Teams (Floor Wardens) which includes personal preparedness, first aid, use of fire extinguishers and conducting evacuations. Plans are now underway to evaluate the course, make any necessary modifications and expand the training to all other City facilities. All Permits and Licenses staff have completed damage assessment training designed to assist them in their role of conducting rapid building assessments following an earthquake. Staff from each Library branch as well as some designated Park Board and Housing & Properties staff have also completed the training.

D) E-Comm

Wide Area Radio System

The replacement communications system being developed through E-Comm will replace Vancouver’s aging fire and police radio system with a high quality modern system, providing:

•earthquake resistant communication centre and radio network;

•redundancy and a "fail-soft" architecture (eliminating current "single points of failure");

•high capacity;

•secure communications;

•effective inter-agency communications (the inability of emergency services to communicate with each other was identified as a major issue in the Stanley Cup riots);

•the ability to create "talk groups" of emergency units dealing with a specific event, separate from general communications;

•enhanced mobile data terminal capability to obtain and relay information to and from the field.

In addition to significantly enhanced capability in a major emergency, the new facility will significantly enhance day to day operations and the management of more routine emergencies requiring an integrated response.

Emergency Operations Centre

Up to now, the City’s Emergency Operations Centre has been based in conference rooms and other facilities used for normal operations, without adequate communications or information system support. E-Comm will provide a purpose built emergency operations centre, providing space and technology support for effective emergency response. This will include large screen status displays, backup satellite communications, an emergency management information system which will monitor the status of resources and the response, and a media facility. The Emergency Operations Centre will benefit from the redundant electrical and communications connections, water storage, air scrubbing system, video systems, and other capabilities of the E-Comm building.

Exercises and training will be conducted in the new facility as soon as it is completed, in order to familiarize staff with its capabilities and ensure their effective utilization.

Regional Emergency Coordination Centre

As part of the E-Comm facility, a regional emergency coordination centre has been developed which will bring together municipalities, hospitals, transportation agencies and utilities in the event of a major emergency or a disaster. With the exception of the North Shore communities, all other Lower Mainland municipalities, the GVRD, RCMP, Provincial Government Ministries, BC Ambulance, utility companies, transportation agencies, rail companies, Vancouver and area hospitals, Vancouver Port Corporation, Fraser River Harbour Commission and the Coast Guard are members. Representatives from the participating agencies have developed operating plans and protocols for the RECC, which will form a basis for ongoing regional training and exercises.

E) Joint Emergency Liaison Committee

Also, from a regional perspective, GVRD municipalities and the Provincial Emergency Program of the Attorney-General’s Ministry have coordinated the establishment of a Joint Emergency Liaison Committee. The committee consists of senior municipal and provincial representatives and is tasked with ensuring that emergency planning is coordinated between municipalities, the region and provincial ministries. The effect of this project will be to ensure that in the event of a major emergency or a disaster, plans are in place which are coordinated across municipalities, and between municipalities and provincial ministries. The Committee had identified six initial areas of priority, and cross jurisdictional working groups activated to develop strategies for coordination, in Heavy Urban Search & Rescue, Resource Management, Communications, Water Distribution, Disaster Response Routes and Structural Assessments. Four additional priorities are now being investigated for the period 1998-2000.

F) Urban Search and Rescue

Planning for response in Vancouver also includes the development by Fire and Rescue Services of a Urban Search and Rescue capability for use in the event of a building or structural collapse. A multi-jurisdictional team made up of Fire, Police, Engineering, Permits and Licenses, Park Board and BC Ambulance personnel, as well as volunteers, have received training in basic and advanced rescue techniques as well as in advanced equipment skills. The 80 member team is now capable of being deployed anywhere in the Lower Mainland, and will be capable of being deployed anywhere in British Columbia by August of this year. Fire and Rescue Services are also developing a fully equipped centre for Urban Search and Rescue training with funding received from the Federal/Provincial Joint Emergency Preparedness Program.

This is the only Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team in Canada, and is trained to the standards of the US based FEMA teams which have played a prominent role in disasters in the US.

G) Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program

Fire and Rescue Services is coordinating a neighbourhood emergency response program. The basic concept is "neighbour helping neighbour". The program offers training modules to interested neighbourhood representatives in personal and family preparedness and basic rescue and response skills such as first aid, utilities and fire suppression, damage assessment, basic search and rescue skills, communications and providing shelter. Approximately 15 teams comprised mostly of residents from coop housing and strata councils, have received initial training. Future plans call for training to be provided via the Block Watch Program. Vancouver, along with other GVRD municipalities, have participated in a regional neighbourhood preparedness committee to ensure consistency in neighbourhood programs, share resources and training techniques and investigate joint funding options. Through funding provided by BC Gas a regional neighbourhood training program is now being developed by the Justice Institute, with the first course scheduled for Sept. 1998.

H) Emergency Social Services Program

Further response planning involves Emergency Social Services, a volunteer supported program coordinated by the Park Board and responsible for the provision of food, clothing, shelter, registration and family reunification, basic medical care and related personal services to disaster victims and response workers. In the event of a disaster, the City would use its 25 community centres, the land around them as well as several back-up facilities, to provide emergency shelter and other Emergency Social Services programs. Agreements have been made with local suppliers and volunteer agencies to provide emergency resources and personnel. The program involves more than 800 volunteers representing 12 volunteer agencies, City departments and residents of various communities. Volunteers are now being coordinated into community based teams, which will represent a response group for each of the 25 community centre reception centres. At least two training days a year are conducted for all volunteers and include full-scale exercises involving the public.

PLANNING FOR RECOVERY

Recovery planning has been given very little profile, either at the provincial or local government levels, according to the provincial audit report. Business continuation planning is seen to be almost non-existent at the provincial government level and generally lacking at the local government level. Like other agencies, the City is deficient in this regard, as its priorities have related to the life safety concerns involved in mitigation and response. Recovery planning and business continuity will be addressed in both the City’s updated emergency plan and department’s operational plans which include procedures for returning to normal civic business. This work will receive greater focus as the major response and mitigation activities are completed in the next year and a half.

In terms of long-term reconstruction and recovery funding plans, the provincial audit report noted that most governments do not have comprehensive strategies in place to prepare a reconstruction plan, or fund a full recovery program following a major earthquake. The issue of funding a recovery program falls primarily on senior governments, which have the financial ability to meet these significant costs. However, the Risk & Emergency Management Office will in future begin coordinating a City Recovery Plan which will focus on strategies for long-term reconstruction and consider financial options for funding a rebuilding program. This program will require the attention of senior City staff, and again will receive more attention when the current major work on mitigation and response is completed.

The provincial audit report also found that the ability to inspect unsafe buildings is inadequate and that very little thought has been given to the post-earthquake removal of debris. As previously mentioned, the City’s updated emergency plan will address both of these areas, inspection and posting of unsafe buildings being the responsibility of the Permits and Licences Division of Community Services Group, and removal of debris being the responsibility of Engineering Services. The Joint Emergency Liaison Committee has addressed the inspection and posting of unsafe buildings and proposed an approach to this issue. It will be addressing the question of debris disposal in its current work program.

1998 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WEEK CAMPAIGN

The annual Emergency Preparedness Week campaign is a national effort designed to enhance the level of emergency preparedness in all communities. It continues to be a successful avenue for informing the public as to the status of ongoing and new emergency management initiatives in the City, and for promoting awareness of the need for individuals and organizations to become better prepared to deal with a major emergency or a disaster.

The objectives for this year’s Emergency Preparedness Week are:

•create public awareness of Vancouver’s emergency preparedness programs;

•enhance the level of personal & family preparedness in Vancouver;

•create awareness of the partnerships between government, industry, utilities, businesses, non-profit organizations, and the public for emergency management;

•provide a venue for testing emergency plans and response coordination;

•demonstrate through a widely advertised Emergency Preparedness Fair, in an interactive way, some of the preparedness programs available, for example: hands-on training in personal preparedness, earthquake drills, first aid and use of fire extinguishers;

•provide a forum for demonstrations of the Urban Search & Rescue, Emergency Social Services and Emergency Response Teams, as well as, Salt Water Pumping Stations and other safety initiatives;

•promote information on school disaster plans to parents, staff and students; and

•promote the development of community based Emergency Social Services and Neighbourhood teams

Planning is now underway to host a variety of Emergency Preparedness Week initiatives all directed towards enhancing the City’s level of emergency preparedness. All costs associated with these events are being borne by Fire, Police, Engineering, Parks and Risk & Emergency Management’s operational budgets.

•May 3-4Emergency Preparedness Fair to be held at the Fire Training Centre on Chess Street and will include:

•hands on training in personal preparedness, earthquake drills, evacuation procedures, first aid and the use of fire extinguishers;

•demonstrations by the Urban Search & Rescue, Hazardous Materials, Extrication, Police Bicycle and Motorcycle Drill Teams, as well as the Police Dog and Mounted Squads;

•demonstrations of the fire boats and salt water pumping stations;

•a Safety Exhibit & Trade Fair by emergency supply vendors; and

•entertainment & food services including a foam & smoke tent, rides on fire apparatus, Fire and Rescue Services marching band, photo opportunities and mobile food services.

•May 4-8

•The "Big One at 1:00" Campaign which will encourage residents and the staff at City facilities, businesses, utility companies, hospitals and schools to participate in an earthquake drill at 1:00 p.m. Each day of the week a different focus group will be highlighted by conducting an earthquake drill at 1:00 p.m., followed by a test of their emergency procedures.

May 4 - City Facilities May 7 - Schools

May 5 - Hospitals May 8 - Residents

May 6 - Utilities & Businesses

• A series of educational seminars, displays and exercises.

•May 7Volunteer Recognition/Awards Ceremony which is an opportunity to recognize those community volunteers who have contributed significantly towards emergency initiatives.

•May 9Emergency Social Services Training Day - the ESS team plans to activate and staff five emergency reception centres at the same time, conducting a large-scale disaster simulation with public participation.

CONCLUSION

Emergency preparedness, response and recovery initiatives have been undertaken by the City, some at major expense such as the E-Comm and Wide Area Radio System, the seismic upgrading of bridges and the construction of salt water pumping stations. Contingency plans for maintaining a source of drinking water are in place. Emergency plans for key response departments are close to completion and will immediately be used for ongoing training and testing purposes. Preparation of emergency plans for the Emergency Operations Centre and for non-response departments have commenced.

There is continuing work to be done in the area of ongoing training and exercises, updating plans, and examining recovery and restoration more fully. The development of a seismic hazard abatement policy for privately owned buildings is a significant outstanding issue currently being addressed.

Preparedness for, response to and recovery from a major emergency or a disaster will continue to be given the priority and attention Council has placed on it. As such, the concerns and recommendations contained in the Auditor General’s Earthquake Preparedness Performance Audit are being appropriately addressed by the City. * * * * *

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver