Planning key to evacuation’s success
Andrea Macko, Staff Reporter They left almost as quickly as they arrived.
One hundred and ten evacuees from the northern Ontario community of Kashechewan were in St. Marys for less than 48 hours last week, before the risk of flooding in their James Bay-area community subsided sufficiently to allow for their return home.
Even though the town was only informed that it would be receiving evacuees late Friday night, the town of St. Marys – and by extension, Perth County – was able to rise to the occasion thanks to its established emergency plan.
Although, as St. Marys CAO Bruce Grant – who first received word of St. Marys’ role of host for potentially 420 people – notes, “I don’t know if there’s such as thing as a normal emergency.”
While the town has had an emergency plan in place for over 20 years (and all Ontario communities have been mandated as such since Sept. 11, 2001), “we plan to deal with local emergencies, normally.” Grant adds that since the Pyramid Centre where the evacuees stayed, “was a shelter situation, (the plan) changed its look.”
The organization for hosting the evacuees fell on the shoulders of Perth County’s Emergency Control Group, which includes representatives from all municipalities, including Mayor Jamie Hahn. Members of this control group were first contacted by Emergency Management Ontario to see if they would be willing to accept the evacuees – and the answer was an unequivocal yes.
Under the county plan, each municipality submits statistics on its facilities – the fact that the Pyramid Centre has showers and a full kitchen meant it was to have the lion’s share – 420 – of the evacuees. “(The emergency control group) tried to figure out how to accommodate 1,100 people – it was not an arbitrary decision,” Grant explains.
“We were focussing on our efforts to be ready for 420 people,” says Grant of the 30 or so hours between the confirmation of the evacuees and their arrival. Mayor Jamie Hahn declared a state of emergency on Saturday, Apr. 27 at 7 a.m., in order for the town to qualify for assistance under Emergency Management Ontario and so that the Red Cross could assist town staff (mostly those associated with the Pyramid Centre) in setting up the shelter.
St. Marys fire chief Dennis Brownlee, who is also the town’s emergency co-ordinator, notes that “we’ve never set up an emergency shelter before,” so finding all the necessary items (which are provided in the town’s emergency plan) was a bit of a challenge. Aside from huge quantities of food
– the town was expecting to serve 1,300 meals daily for between one and three weeks – there was the matter of meeting all the needs of the evacuees.
“The key people knew what to bring to the table,” notes Grant; the public works department, for example, set up fencing for smoking areas, while Darren McPhail, the chef at the Friendship Centre, sourced food.
Despite all the planning, everything can’t be predicted. Grant notes that at first, the town wasn’t expecting any infants – and then eight arrived, including a three-week-old newborn.
“We really didn’t know what the demographic would look like until they got here,” says Grant, stressing the need for flexibility. “When we learned there were babies, we had to go get cribs, etc., and everything that comes with that,” he says.
Brownlee adds that “one of the biggest things was that communications had to be in place – the lines of communication had to be left open,” in terms of anticipating the evacuees’ arrival.
After the evacuees’ arrival, Brownlee notes that a liaison officer was designated within the evacuees to speak with Red Cross volunteers and staff regarding concerns and questions for the group, as well as disseminate any information provided by the town.
“They played a big role,” he says. “It worked fairly well.”
He adds that a representative from Indian and Northern Affairs was also present throughout the course of the evacuation to act as a sounding board for any concerns or questions, as was a representative from Emergency Management Ontario.
“They were exemplary visitors,” says Mayor Jamie Hahn of the evacuees’ brief stay in St. Marys. “There was no appreciable damage or rowdiness,” he notes, other than a few ceiling tiles damaged from a few boisterous children’s balls, “and the police had no incident calls relating to these folk.”
Brownlee says that, according to facilities manager Jim Bryson, “there’s more damage caused by a Buck and Doe (than what the evacuees caused).”
St. Marys OPP Sgt. Bernie Miedema, who was asked by Mayor Hahn to increase the OPP’s presence in the downtown core and along James Street during the evacuees’ stay, says that there were no incidents to report.
“From a policing standpoint, it went absolutely perfect,” he said. “We quelled any concerns anybody had.”
As for all the supplies, the town returned everything it possibly could, and everything else will be charged to the Federal government, including expenses such as hydro and the draining of the new ice pad. Items like unused diapers were also donated to the Salvation Army, as well as the Early
Learning Centre. Grant says it will take a few months to determine how much the town will be refunded for, once all the bills are finalized.
While activities at the pool and Friendship Centre have returned to normal (the pool was closed to the public and the evacuees during their stay), the new ice pad will be ready for use only by the last week of May.
Grant explains that the town did plan on taking the ice out of service later in the summer, to do routine inspection and maintenance, but since it was drained for the evacuees, this work will be done now.
A number of events, including a Buck and Doe and a wedding reception, were moved to the Kirkton Woodham Community Centre to accommodate the evacuees.
According to Mayor Hahn, any costs to move events due to the evacuees’ will be billed to the government as well. As for any other users of the Pyramid Centre which were displaced during the evacuation, “if there is a true inconvenience, we will consider their problem,” says Hahn.
The 110 evacuees departed for home by Wednesday afternoon, and the emergency was declared over by Mayor Hahn a day later, to allow for a teardown of the shelter facilities.
And, while life has returned to normal for town staff involved with the evacuee process, Grant and Brownlee agree that, despite the unusual situation, “the town can deal with anything,” in Grant words.
He adds that “we can’t solve the world’s problems, but we can manage the situations in a controlled fashion” in that “the framework of the emergency plan works well and sets (the town up) to manage emergency situations well.”
Brownlee adds that communication is key, not only between those handling the emergency on the front line, but for the community as well. He says that the town-controlled call centre worked well, and that “you could get a live person when you called,” so concerns and questions could be handled.
He adds that “citizens should be aware of where they’re going to get their information during an emergency,” noting that the town’s website (www.townofstmarys.com) and local radio stations will provide regular updates on events.