Changes to BC Flood Plan for 2013 & EMBC Update

1. Changes to BC Flood Plan for 2013& EMBC Update Emergency Management in BC

2. Topics • Updated BC Flood Response Plan • Changes in 2013 plan • BC Flood Protection Program funding • New Imminent Flood Threat Works Policies • Sandbagging Machines • Accessing Wildfire Management Branch crews • New Financial Management Annex

3. Status Update • BC Flood Response Plan has been amended • Coordinated by EMBC • Multi-ministry participation • Revision dated March 13, 2013 • Has been posted on the EMBC website: http://www.embc.gov.bc.ca/em/hazard_plans/hazard_plans.html

4. Ministries • Justice & Attorney General (JAG) -> EMBC • Forests, Lands, & Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) • Transportation & Infrastructure (MoTI) • Ministry of Environment (MoE) • Government Communications & Public Engagement (GCPE) • Community, Sport, & Cultural Development (CSCD) • Agriculture (AGRI) • Health (MoH)

5. Ministries Justice & Attorney General (JAG) -> EMBC • Coordinate provincial support for local authority • Existing funding programs Forests, Lands, & Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) • Provide technical expertise & support 24/7 Transportation & Infrastructure (MoTI) • Incident command on all events that threaten highways infrastructure • If available, at the request of the PREOC, provide expertise and resources, including attending to local government sites off highway

6. Ministries Ministry of Environment (MoE) • Response and technical advice for spills Government Communications & Public Engagement (GCPE) • Information/media officers to PECC & PREOC • BC Crisis Communications Strategy Community, Sport, & Cultural Development (CSCD) • Assistance & guidance to local governments around infrastructure • May approve special operating funds

7. Ministries Agriculture (AGRI) • Provide coordination of livestock evacuation & emergency feeding Health (MoH) • Provincial Health Emergency Management Plan • Psycho-social support as needed

8. The New Plan • Speaks briefly to local authority response activities but the focus of the plan is to outline provincial agency roles, activities, responsibilities and communication lines • Intent is to address questions that arose during the internal Flooding 2012 Debriefs and to further define the roles of ministries

9. Changes for 2013 • Further detail regarding the provincial operational structure and links between ministries • Further detail about the types of expertise that exist within the provincial government • Enhanced ministry sections, especially MoJ, FLNRO, MoTI and AGRI • Four pillar descriptions of EMBC responsibilities • Prevention, mitigation, response, & recovery

10. Changes for 2013 • Appendix regarding local governments has been moved into the main body of the plan under the section “Response Roles of Key External Agencies”; no major changes to text • Added planning assumptions regarding local authority and individual response activities • Local authority initiate actions to BCERMS goals, activate emergency plans • Private and business sector will make every effort to prevent or minimize damages • Enhanced section on federal government agencies and the types of support they can provide to the province

11. The Plan • Builds on the 2012 version and brings more clarity to ministry roles. Excellent cooperation between ministries in writing the new version. • We plan to apply the philosophy of “continuous improvement” in our future work; aiming to always build on lessons learned. Thus, our response plans will continue to formalize changes that improve our response mechanisms

12. Flood Protection Program Funding • Application package out on April 12 • Expression of Interest deadline is May 22, 2013 • For work after April 1, 2014, 2 fiscal years • For local authorities and diking authorities • Federal money, administrated provincially • 2 categories: • Permanent infrastructure projects (fed/prov/loc) • Strategic mitigation projects less than $50K (prov/loc) • Local gov’t can apply on behalf of private sector

13. Emergency Works Policies Imminent Flood Threat Works Response Policy • “provincial investment in imminent threat emergency works should be avoided, where possible, in favour of mitigation measures which are appropriately planned and constructed at times when the imminent threat from flooding or erosion is not a complication”

14. Imminent Threat Policies Imminent Flood Threat Works Policy • Gabion Policy • Sandbag Policy • Temporary Berms and Dikes

15. Emergency Works Policies Construction of Temporary Dikes and Berms Policy • Must have a professional engineer

16. Sandbagging Machines • Request through EMBC • Storage locations: • Four Mile Forestry District Office, Nelson • Kimberley Public Works • Local government is expected to take care of logistics of getting sandbag units to/from the site • If new to the machine, ask for on-site training at the time of request

17. Wildfire ManagementBranch crews • Activation and deployment criteria and processes being finalized • Request goes from local government to EMBC • EMBC requests assistance from Wildfire Management Branch • Crews report to local government Incident Commander

18. Wildfire ManagementBranch crews • Once at scene • Must have identified Incident Commander for crews to report to • Crews are available for specific tasks only

19. 2013 FinancialManagement Financial Management Support Annex • Financial Management of Emergency Response Costs during Provincial Activations document • http://www.embc.gov.bc.ca/em/hazard_plans/Financial_Management_Annex.pdf • Dated March 2013

20. Questions?