If it looks like all hell is breaking loose on the North Shore on Tuesday, don’t worry. It’s just practice for the real thing.
North Shore Emergency Management is conducting a transportation and logistics exercise to test our ability to deliver emergency responders – most of whom do not live on the North Shore – and supplies in the event of a major earthquake.
The drill is based on the expected outcome of a 7.3 magnitude quake happening in the Strait of Georgia. Lions Gate Bridge and Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing should withstand a tremor of that size, but they would be off-limits for a period of time to be assessed by structural engineers.
Starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday, workers from Squamish, Vancouver and Port Moody will begin landing on the beaches and docks around the North Shore with some help from the Canadian Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, the Vancouver police marine unit and Canada Task Force One, as well as some private companies.
There will also be Talon helicopters delivering “sling loads” for freight.
From 9 to 11 a.m. Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen will become a “community point of distribution” and NSEM is asking people who live east of the Seymour River to drive to the park and line up for one of 200 preparedness supply kits available.
“Typically in a disaster we’d be distributing real supplies like water and tarps and food and things that people are really going to need but in this case, we’re going to distribute preparedness supplies, to give people a bit of a jumpstart on getting prepared for emergencies if they’re not already,” said Fiona Dercole, NSEM director. “The better people are prepared personally at home, the less they’re going to need to rely on receiving these supplies.”
