Photo: Ed Burke
Nearly a year after a deadly heat wave killed nearly 600 people in British Columbia, the provincial government has unveiled a new plan to prepare for and warn of impending extreme heat.
Under the new BC Warning and Response System (HARS), a provincial team of experts will assess weather forecasts in many regions of the province by issuing alerts through a two-tier heat warning system.
“After last year’s event, it is clear that we need to look carefully at our response to the extreme heat and take steps to ensure we are prepared for more of these events in the future,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Mike Farnworth said Monday.
The new system begins with a heat warning that will indicate that temperatures are rising and are expected to exceed regional thresholds for minimum day and night temperatures.
In BC, the regional temperature thresholds are:
- Lower Continent, Vancouver Island: daily maximum temperature of 29 C, low at night of 16 C
- Fraser Valley: daily maximum temperature of 33 C, low at night of 17 C
- Southeast (including southern Okanagan): daily maximum temperature of 35 C, low at night of 18 C
- Northeast: Daily high: 29 ° C, Minimum Night 14 ° C
- Northwest: maximum daytime temperature of 28 C, low at night of 13
Once these temperature thresholds are reached and are expected to increase over a period of three days, a newly formed BC Heat Committee will call for an emergency broadcast signal through the national text alert system. This is different from flood or forest fire warnings that are currently issued at the municipal or regional level.
Heat warnings are expected to occur up to three times each summer, while extreme heat is expected to hit the countryside once or twice a decade.
“This is not the silver bullet itself,” Farnworth said, noting that media and door-to-door warnings will help strengthen the warning system.
But how this is happening on the ground, experts like Ryan Reynolds are cautious about fully approving the province’s latest measures.
Researcher and technologist, a pioneer in disaster preparedness applications at the University of British Columbia, Reynolds says that too much reliance on technology can quickly turn off large sections of the population.
“It’s great for 30- to 40-year-olds who have their phone in their pocket. But not necessarily for people like my parents, “he told the text warning system. “We need other things to fill the gaps.”
Reynolds said the province’s plan to offer guidance on how to plan ahead is a big and important step forward, but much will depend on how consistent these messages are from one municipality to another.
“They are trying to do as much as they can. The problem with that is that smaller things can slip through the cracks, “he said. “The proof will be to see this in play.”
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