Emergency preparation will be under Ucluelet’s microscope today.
The district has an emergency preparedness Open House scheduled for March 8 from 3-7 p.m. at the Ucluelet Community Centre.
The event was organized after the community was evacuated from their homes and hotel rooms by a tsunami warning in the early morning hours of Feb. 23 caused by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake near Alaska around 1:30 a.m.
The district is hoping to find ways to improve its emergency notification processes by hearing locals share their experiences from that event.
“We want to talk to the public and hear from the public after the event that we had…We’re coordinating our efforts and always trying to improve,” said Ucluelet mayor Dianne St. Jacques. “When and if an event like that happens, we all want to do everything we can to be safe so we need to know what worked well for people and what ideas they might have on improvements.”
The event will include information on how to join Ucluelet’s Emergency Social Services team.
Locals can sign up for the district’s Emergency Notification Service, which provides emergency notices through text messages as well as voice messages to landlines by visiting www.Ucluelet.ca.
That service is tested annually during Emergency Preparedness Week each May.
Neighbouring Tofino tested its tsunami sirens and One Call emergency notification system on Friday.