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Evacuation plan in the works for Queensborough due to flood 'risk'
08/03/21
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Mar 5, 2021
New provincial funding announced
New Democrat MLAs Aman Singh and Jennifer Whiteside are welcoming the announcement of $22,000 in funding to support the planning and development of an emergency evacuation route for the city.
“Because of its location, Queensborough is at a higher risk for a flooding emergency,” said Aman Singh, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough, in a statement. “We are making sure this evacuation plan considers the needs of the most vulnerable people in our community, so that everyone can get out of harm’s way calmly and safely in the event of an emergency.”
A grant of $22,000 is going to New Westminster so that the city can be better prepared in the event of an emergency that requires evacuation. The planning will identify the safest means of transportation as well as their capacity and direction under certain potential emergency situations, early warning systems or other emergency notification tools, and the anticipated speed of local hazards.
“Nobody wants to imagine an emergency occurring in our community, but it is essential that we are prepared,” said Jennifer Whiteside, MLA for New Westminster. “The Evacuation Route Plan will help identify possible challenges like choke points on our roads and ensure alternate routes will be in place for people.”
This grant is one of 28 dispersing over $1 million to prepare British Columbians in municipalities and First Nations for a potential evacuation. It is all part of the province’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF), which has disbursed over $60 million.
Comments:
This kind of diversionary "planning" is horrifyingly ridiculous. We know about climate disruption and its highly probable impact on rising sea levels and storm-caused flooding. So, we keep on building pipelines and burning fossil fuels? We keep building lots of new housing in Queensborough? And we "study" evacuation route chokepoints that a child could point out on a map? How about planning a faster transition off fossil fuels, because recent science shows that our 2030 and 2050 GHG emission reduction targets are also ridiculous.-- even if any of the highest emitters among the 2015 Paris Accord signatories were on schedule to meet such targets, which they are not!
[Top photo: Queensborough is at a higher risk of flooding. Record file photo]
