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47th Year No. 44 THURS., NOVEMBER 1, 2012
GAZETTE NORTH ISLAND
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Rescue personnel and district staff join Provincial Emergency Program coordinator Bob Hawkins, acting administrator Gloria Le Gal and acting Mayor John Tidbury in the command centre at the District of Port Hardy offices during Saturday night’s tsunami evacuation. J.R. Rardon
Wave of relief follows tsunami J.R. Rardon Gazette editor PORT HARDY— Hundreds of North Islanders caught up in the voluntary evacuation following Saturday night’s tsunami warning were displaced for only a few hours. The lessons learned by local emergency personnel in the hours following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Haida Gwaii may have a much longer-lasting impact. “Each of the communities are doing their own individual debriefings, and our North Island regional planning committee will
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be getting together in the next week to review procedures,” said Cori Neilson, the Regional coordinator for the Provincial Emergency Program. “It was a learning experience.” There were no injuries or property damage reported on the North Island in the aftermath of the tsunami, which measured little more than 12 centimetres by the time it reached the area. But the event did provide a valuable live exercise for emergency workers and revealed flaws and questions in local plans. In Port Hardy, there was some question about local
“The hockey kids came running out yelling, ‘We’re all gonna die!’” Sarah Evans
emergency shelters. An older brochure indicates Avalon Adventist Junior Academy is the muster station for Storey’s Beach and Fort Rupert residents, but Neilson said the more recent regional plan directs them to the Civic Centre in Port Hardy. “There’s nothing set up at Avalon,” said Neilson. “There’s no one to staff
it or man it, and that’s why we’re using the Civic Centre.” During a meeting held Tuesday at noon, though, Port Hardy PEP coordinator Bob Hawkins said a director would be trained to staff Avalon in the future. On the other hand, the current plan indicates Wakas Hall is to be used for residents of Tsulquate Reserve,
but they were largely sent to the Civic Centre by Port Hardy Fire Rescue personnel who cruised Tsulquate beginning shortly after 9 p.m. “There was some miscommunication there,” said Bob Swain, the PEP coordinator in Tsulquate. “We’re going to have a local emergency committee meeting Thursday that will also serve as an information session for the community. “When something like this happens is when we need a lot of help. We need volunteers.” Neilson was on the job almost immediately, hav-
ing felt the quake shortly after 8 p.m. at her Port McNeill home. When the quake subsided, she went online to connect with the stream of information coming in from B.C. provincial emergency authorities and other sources. Later, she joined other local PEP coordinators in a series of conference calls to collect reports and share information. “I felt like I was wellequipped to do the job I needed to do,” said Neilson,
See page 5 ‘Evacuees crash concert’
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