**** HRM Media Release
Emergency Preparedness Week is May 5-11
As part of Emergency Preparedness Week, the Halifax Regional Municipality is encouraging all residents to know their risks and be prepared.
- Know your risks – those who live on a coastline, floodplain or area prone to wildfire should plan accordingly.
- Be prepared – have an emergency kit, sign up for hfxALERT, know your contacts, where to find important information (like insurance documents) and understand support services, such as comfort centres, during emergencies.
- Get involved – consider volunteering with the Joint Emergency Management Team, which is activated during emergencies and provides support year-round through community emergency preparedness.
To support Emergency Preparedness Week, the municipality is running a contest to bring better awareness about knowing your risks and being prepared. To enter the contest, take the emergency preparedness quiz. Those who answer all questions correctly will be eligible to win an emergency kit valued at $50 or flood kit valued at a $100 The draw will take place the week of May 13.
The devastating impacts from severe weather events, such as the wildfire and floods from last summer, continue to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness. The Emergency Management Division is focused on ensuring the safety and security of residents, their properties and the environment by providing a timely and coordinated response to crisis events.
To support these efforts, the municipality launched its Voluntary Vulnerable Persons Registry last fall to help individuals who are at increased risk during emergency events, such as extreme weather or power outages. For more information or to sign up, visit: halifax.ca/vvpr .
The municipality is also updating its Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (HRVA) to help inform decision making that will help mitigate risk and hazards during emergencies. The HRVA analyzes potential negative outcomes during emergency events, such as extreme weather. Its objectives are to increase community and organizational resiliency to climate, technological, human and hazards, by informing and influencing decision-making and project-planning.
Residents have an important role to play when it comes to ensuring their own safety. All residents should be prepared to be self-sufficient in their home for 72 hours in case of an emergency.
To stay informed about emergencies and operations, residents are encouraged to sign up for hfxALERT, the municipality’s mass notification system. Subscribers can choose to receive urgent and non-urgent notifications by phone, email, and/or text message. During emergencies, the municipality communicates with residents via public service announcements, web updates, social media (@hfxgov) and hfxALERT. Residents may also contact 311 for more information about emergency operations. And response.
For more information on emergency preparedness, visit: halifax.ca/emo .
