Between Portmore, Jamaica and View Royal, Canada

Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready

Preface:

Amidst the growing concern for safer cities as it relates to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), efforts are now being accelerated by the UNISDR and its partners to engage Local Authorities in making their Cities resilient to natural hazards through a global campaign.

This Global Campaign is being promoted under the theme, Making Cities Resilient: My City is getting ready. One of the campaign's activities was a call for proposal to promote the exchange of experiences on the integration of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in the development process among local Government.

Reducing disaster risk and achieving sustainable development forms a part of the Portmore Municipal Council’s priority agenda. Hence, the opportunity was seized to exchange best practices and experiences which are geared at improving DRR and CCA between the Town of View Royal, Canada and the Municipality of Portmore, Jamaica.

The experiences that were shared were centered around the Ten Essential for Making Cities Resilient Checklist, mainly focusing on the following points:

• Maintain up to date hazards on and vulnerabilities. Prepare risk assessments and use these as the basis for urban development plans and decisions, ensure that this information and the plans for your city's resilience are readily available to the public and fully discussed with them.
• Invest in and maintain critical infrastructure that reduces risk, such as flood drainage, adjusted where needed to cope with climate change.
• Apply and enforce realistic, risk compliant building regulations and land use planning principles. Identify safe land for low income citizens and upgrade informal settlements, wherever feasible.
• Ensure that education programmes and training on disaster risk reduction are in place in schools and local communities.
• Protect ecosystems and natural buffers to mitigate floods, storm surges and other hazards to which your city may be vulnerable. Adapt to climate change by building on good risk reduction practices.
• Install early warning systems and emergency management capacities in your city and hold regular public preparedness drills.

This report summarizes the activities that were undertaken during the visit of Portmore contingents (Mrs. Phillipa Ricketts-Edmund, Disaster Coordinator and Miss. Nicole Condappa, Director of Planning, Development and Environment) to the Town of View Royal on July 21 – 24, 2013 and the Visit of View Royal contingents (Mr. Paul Hurst, Director of Emergency Management and Mr. Troy Mollin, Emergency Management Officer) to the Municipality of Portmore on September 16 – 19, 2013.

Portmore Visit to View Royal:

Introduction

The two day visit to View Royal by the Portmore Council was extremely busy with a very aggressive agenda. The focus for day one (1) was on View Royal's Emergency Program, Infrastructure, Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment and community layout, which included presentations and tour of the Fire Hall as well as the general Town of View Royal and surrounding areas. View Royal is a municipality amongst 13 in the Capital Regional District (Greater Victoria) and on day two (2) other municipalities and organizations were visited so as to gain an understanding of the overall functioning of the disaster management process and its integration in terms of planning, coordination, and cooperation. In addition, an interview was done via Skype with Laurie Pearce, Federal Chair of the Resilient Communities Working Group (RCWG).

Day 1

Activity 1. A presentation was done by the Emergency Management Office and was lead by Mr. Troy Mollin, Emergency Programme Officer and Mr. Paul Hurst, Director of Emergency Management. Support for this presentation was given by Miss. Cindy Heslop, Deputy Emergency Coordinator and Mr. Kim Anema, Chief Administrative Officer. The detail of their presentation include an overview of the City's Profile, organizational structure, response capabilities, past, present and future DRR activities and initiatives. Other highlights of the presentation included a discussion on our similar hazards and risks such as Tsunami and Earthquakes, and severe weather in addition the presentation also captured the role of the Fire Depart and their importance and challenges in responding to and managing disasters in View Royal (See Annex 1 for presentation).

Activity 2. Mrs. Ricketts-Edmund and Miss. Condappa met with the Town Hall Directors and Chief Administrative Officer along with the Mayor. A presentation regarding land use planning, legislation and bylaws was delivered by View Royal's Planning Director, Lindsay Chase. It was pointed out that the presentation not only informed the visitors of View Royal's planning process but was also beneficial to the Fire Hall by bridging a gap that existed within their organization and the Development Services Division and the Emergency Management Division.

The following points below are highlights of the presentation made by Mrs. Lindsay Chase in a plenary session:

• Current legislation, bylaws and plans focus on mitigation and risk reduction.
• Risk reduction initiatives are written into the building codes and provincial legislation as well as the building and zoning bylaws.

Activity 3 - Concurrent Session

Meetings continued in the afternoon between Nicole Condappa, Portmore Planning Director, and Lindsay Chase as well as discussion between Mrs. Ricketts-Edmund, Portmore Disaster Coordinator and the Emergency Communications and Emergency Support Services (ESS) personnel.

Highlights of discussion between the Planning Directors:

• zoning bylaws
• Official Community Plan (OCP) that guide much of our development and inherently contain risk management strategies.
• Canadian Institute of Planners initiatives on Climate Adaptation
• Natural Resources Canada mitigation planning
• Our enabling legislation (Provincial, Federal).
• Water protection and possible flood plain areas
• Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
• The challenges of bylaw enforcement

NB: Public participation was crucial

Highlights of discussion between Mrs. Ricketts-Edmund and the Emergency Communication Coordinators and the ESS personnel:

Emergency Communications A briefing on the Emergency Radio capability was presented by Jack Dennet, Emergency Communications Coordinator for View Royal. Jack demonstrated how the communications equipment is operated and explained the capability for video and email via radio waves. He also informed how the team is activated and deployed to the EOC, Reception Centres and Incident Command Posts to provide, primary and backup communications. This is, he said, essential for ensuring updates on situations and directing operational support.

Emergency Support Services Deputy Emergency Coordinator, Cindy Heslop and the ESS Deputy Directors, Brian Huber and Brian Rivers, who are responsible for managing the ESS volunteers and Evacuation Services explained how the program looks after evacuees for up to 72 hrs after an emergency or disaster through provincial funding and support. They shared the process for dealing with evacuees at various stages whether it is a small emergency or a large disaster.

Essentially, ESS provides a buffer to deal with evacuees until they return home or taken care of by a larger organization such as the Red Cross. The ESS program is unique in that it is made up of ESS volunteers from two municipalities, Colwood and View Royal, and is funded by both municipalities but managed by View Royal. This set up gives greater access to volunteers, equipment and facilities, and provides the volunteers with more opportunities for practical experiences as they are responsible for two municipalities' and thus have a greater chance of being called out.

[Sidebar: Documents and web links were disseminated in order to further explain ESS operations]

Activity 4: Tour of View Royal

Last activity for the day was a tour of View Royal, with a focus on municipal infrastructure and high risk areas.

Areas visited include:

• North Highland road area to highlight the wild land urban fire interface
• Trans Canada Hwy, Island Hwy, Burnside Rd interchange to show the pinch point vulnerability of transportation and utility services that is a gateway to and from the region
• Esquimalt and Songhees First Nation area of vulnerable populations.
• Regional hospital
• Areas of ecological sensitivity
• Areas that are or will be affected by climate change.

Day 2:

Activity 1. Meeting at Saanich Emergency Programme (SEP) Office

An interactive session was held at the SEP Office with Deputy Chief, Frank McDonald and Emergency Programme Officer, Captain Brock Henson. Brock and Frank spoke at length about initiatives and planning they have recently done, including a public survey to their residents regarding their program, its effectiveness, and personal preparedness. This tool assists with public education to meet the needs of community residents and dispel any misconceptions.

The SEP staff also discussed and shared their strategic plan which was directly tied into the municipalities' strategic plan. These documents also further tied into the Climate Change Action Plan as well as the Official Community Plan (OCP) which gives the emergency program their authority/requirements for spending, developing programs, and mitigation activities. They talked about the school public education campaign they have for grade threes and fours for the 40 plus schools in their jurisdiction, and the importance of the program in developing a culture of emergency preparedness and risk awareness for future generations. Discussions continued around ESS and Search and Rescue, volunteer duties and programs as well as the benefit of these volunteers in alleviating burden from Emergency Responders. They introduced how their neighborhood Emergency Preparedness program is run by volunteers who, on behalf of the emergency program, deliver public education to parts of the community. These volunteers need to apply and be selected for these duties, thus ensuring the message being delivered is consistent with the Town and the Regions messaging. The meeting wrapped up with a conversation about the Great BC Shakeout annual earthquake drill and the benefits in terms of public education.

Activity 2: Meeting at the Victoria Emergency Management Agency (VEMA)

We met with the Program Coordinator, Rob Johns and GIS/Sustainability Planner, Steve Young at the Victoria Police station EOC. Rob gave a presentation detailing:

• The City's Emergency Program and some of the challenges in terms of resources, aging infrastructure, and earthquake risk
• Urban Search and Rescue team, which is the only one of its type in the region that is managed at the municipal level.

Steve Young spoke of a sustainability project in the city of Victoria that looked at hazards, risks, and possible impacts to municipal utilities and infrastructure including water drainage capacity and ground water collection. He also spoke about the use of Geographic Information System applications to Disaster Management.

Activity 3: Meeting at the Capital Regional District (CRD)

We met with the CRD Protective Services Manager, Travis Whiting. Travis explained the role of the CRD in assisting municipalities in managing infrastructure and coordinating development, and that they acted as local government for unincorporated areas in the CRD. We discussed the Regional Sustainability Strategy, which is being drafted under the guidance and participation of all municipalities in the CRD. This document will serve as a guide to ensure development, growth, environmental impact, emergency management and mitigation is factored into municipal planning specifically, OCP's. Travis discussed the roles of the Local Government Emergency Program Advisory Commission, and the Regional Emergency Program Advisory Commission and summarized many of the public education, emergency planning, and mitigation initiatives that these two groups are currently engaged in. A quick tour of the CRD EOC was done.

[Comment: Meeting with Travis was very informative. We were also given literature that can be adopted by the Municipal Council]

[Box: Skype was used to communicate with Laurie Pearce, Federal Chair of the Resilient Communities Working Group (RCWG) and also Faculty at Royal Roads Universities Master of Applied Disaster Emergency Management. Discussion was centered on Public education and how it can be used to enhance awareness within the school community. Communication with Laurie Pearce will continue]

Activity 4: Meeting at the Emergency Management British Columbia (EMBC).

Meeting was held with Ralph Mohrman, Sr. Regional Manager and Kelli Kryzanowski, Manager of Integrated Planning.

They presented on:

• The EMBC emergency management process
• How resources are being managed throughout the province using the British Columbia Response Management System.
• The level of support they provided to the local Authorities, and the Regional District through the Provincial EOC
• Support given to local authorities in planning, public education and disaster mitigation strategies

[Text Box: A proactive approach as it relates to the setting up of the EOC at the EMBC was observed, whilst in Portmore a reactive approach is taken regarding the activation of the EOC as the area used is a multipurpose space (Council Chamber/meeting room and used to accommodate civic functions)]

View Royal Visit to Portmore:

Introduction:

The two day visit to Portmore by the View Royal Emergency Management staff was eventful. The first day focused on Portmore's municipal council and staff structure, HRVA and a tour of Portmore and many of its vulnerable areas. On the second day we attended a presentation conducted by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). We then visited more neighborhoods with extreme vulnerabilities. This also included a visit/tour to the St Catherine's Parish Council in Spanish Town. We met with the Spanish Town Mayor as well as HelpAge International Volunteers.

Day 1:

Activity 1:

The day started off with meetings and presentations at Portmore Municipal Council, which is located in a retail plaza in a non-seismic building. Like View Royal, the Council Chambers where we met, is also used as an Emergency Operations Centre.

We began our meetings with introductions to the Portmore Council Staff members, including Councillor Alric Campbell, Chair of the meeting, Chief Administrative Manager (CAM), Miss Kerry Chambers and other Councillors. Unfortunately the Mayor, George Lee, was unavailable due to illness and regrettably has since passed. A presentation from Miss Nicole Condappa, the Director of Planning, Development and Environment, who gave an overview of the UNISDR exchange to Council and explained what we had accomplished up to that point. After the overview, dialogue between Portmore Council and the View Royal representatives revealed similar challenges in terms of funding of mitigation projects, as other projects were seen as a higher priority despite the extreme effects of some of the high risks that each community faces.

Activity 2

Phillipa Ricketts Edmund gave a presentation detailing the profile of Portmore, its hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities, projects that Portmore Municipality has undertaken, and their disaster management structure. There was much focus on the primary hazard which is hurricanes and the subsequent flooding that result from a combination of storm surges and flash flooding from extreme rainfall. This hazard is also increased from sea level rise as a result of eroding beaches and coastline and climate change effects. For Portmore, this is a risk that could potentially wipe the municipality out. Furthermore, the added risk of tsunamis and earthquakes contributes to Portmore rating as the most vulnerable community in Jamaica.

[Box: We are very excited about the network established between Portmore, Jamaica and the Town of View Royal, Canada under the UNISDR Global Campaign "Making Cities Resilient: My City is getting ready". This network has created a platform for both cities to garner experiences of various risks that each City is exposing to.]

Some of the projects that Portmore has undertaken include increased public education around disaster preparedness, development of an education plan, building community resilience, drain maintenance and upgrading and early warning systems to name a few.

Activity 3: Tour of Portmore

Mr. Nigel Moore, the Roads and Works overseer for Portmore, took the View Royal contingent on a Tour of Portmore. The areas of Portmore that are most vulnerable were visited and examples of the infrastructure for flood mitigation were highlighted, specifically the large water drainage systems, some earthen, some concrete, and the challenges in maintaining these drains so they remain operational and effective. Some of the challenges included removal of vegetation in order to allow greater water movement, drain clogging from debris left by residents, and access to drains for cleaning.

Day Two

Activity 1: Presentation

Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM)

The day started off with informal conversations with Council and staff members reviewing the previous day's activities and discussions, as well as an overview of Day two agenda. Our first item was a presentation from Miss Keneisha Clair from the ODPEM detailing the role of the ODPEM and how they support the operational needs of the Parishes and municipalities in Jamaica, as it relates to Emergency Management support. In any large emergency or disaster ODPEM is the lead role agency in Jamaica, however like British Columbia, they support the efforts of response by the municipalities and allow Emergency Management to be coordinated at the local level.

Activity 2:

Tour Continue: Hellshire Beach, Portmore

A tour of Hellshire Beach was conducted in order to observe the real effects of hurricanes, storm surges, beach erosion and sea level rise as a result of climate change. This small fishing village is one of the most vulnerable communities in Portmore as it is subjected to all these risks and hazards it is exposed to.

The President of the Half Moon Bay Fisherman co-operation (Hellshire Fishing Village) discussed how they have lost 30 ft of Beach front as sea levels rise and beaches erode from the frequent storm surges. If nothing is done to mitigate the effects of these hazards, they predict the permanent structures which currently have some contact with ocean, will be somewhat flooded by next year. Currently the community has a strategy that would see a breakwater extended across the beach to lessen the effects of a storm surge. They are also looking at growing coral to augment this strategy. However, a lack of funds could augment this strategy.

Tour of Portmore Fire Department

We made a brief stop at the Fire Department and spoke to the station Acting Fire Chief, James Lee, and were given a tour of the facility and were also informed about the equipment used in their operation. We were impressed by the cleanliness of the station and pride the Department took in maintaining its equipment in order to ensure readiness. . We noted some equipment that was unique in nature that we do not use in View Royal such as the Rescue with Hiab Crane mounted, and concluded that this type of equipment would be of great benefit in small emergencies to major disasters.

St Catherine's Parish Tour

Courtesy call with the Spanish Town Mayor

The day concluded with a tour led by the St Catherine's Parish Disaster Coordinator, Patricia Lewis. She took us to Spanish Town to meet with the Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott, who spoke of the Parish and Town political structure and history. What was notable to us was that the Spanish Town and Parish staff was housed in a building over 400 years old. It is rich with history; however despite being technologically out of date it seems to have held up well to hurricanes and earthquake activity.

Observation of Early Warning System (EWS)

We met with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) HelpAge International volunteers who showed the early warning systems used to alert residents of impending flooding due to flash flooding. A simple concept that utilizes a water level switch that activates a siren and requires community volunteers to mobilize residents. We were impressed with the commitment of these volunteers; however, it was apparent that they would be under-resourced in a major event as they are responsible for immediate evacuations and search and rescue efforts.

[Box: We also went to the Bog Walk Gorge to get a view of the established EWS, which include Flood gates and rain gauge. Every year the river threatens to flood the road and quite often does. The flood gates are employed to prevent traffic from being caught in the flood zones when the river (Rio Cobre) is in spate.]

Conclusion and Recommendation

The two day exchange visits to View Royal and Portmore was a success. We have learnt of other strategies that can be utilized to engage the public in Portmore’s Disaster Risk Reduction programme. Synergies and network were forged with colleagues who are willing to share experience and knowledge. We found more commonalities with each other than we expected. Specifically around:

• Public education and apathy in emergency preparedness;
• Earthquake and Tsunami risk;
• Concerns around Sea level rise and planning to address the inevitable effects;
• Extreme weather patterns due to climate change;
• Land use planning and challenges in increasing urban density;
• Challenges in emergency notification processes;
• Maintaining Emergency Plans using up to date Hazard Risk Vulnerability Assessments;
• Efficiencies in maintaining and upgrading infrastructure through coordinated emergency and development planning in order to create effective well thought out disaster resiliency, and risk mitigation; and
• Issues around bylaw and land use enforcement
• Funding challenges to complete mitigation projects

In addition, both communities are relatively young with View Royal recently celebrating its 25th anniversary and Portmore recently celebrating its 10th anniversary.

We had to abbreviate some of our tours and visits in order to stay on schedule and maximize exposure to the various aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Action each host brought to the table. We felt that more could have been accomplished with extra work days; hence we recommend that the exchange programme be extended for a week.

The staff from UNDP was very well organized and effectively facilitated the exchange. We were very pleased with their support and guidance. Communication by the UNISDR was very clear and also done in a timely manner.

Below are highlights of what we believe were the major successes of the visits as per the requirements of the terms of references. These we believe are relevant aspects of the exchange

Establishment of Cooperation:

View Royals Director of Planning and Development, Lindsay Chase, will be maintaining contact with Portmore through Nicole Condappa and is sharing our land use documents as well as keeping Nicole apprised of any positive changes to our bylaws and legislation that may be of interest. Our Emergency Programs will be sharing ideas for public education and mitigation strategies around flood, earthquake, tsunami and weather event risks that we both face. Portmore is still in the early stages of creating a Municipal Emergency Response and Recovery Plan and View Royal has a plan in place that has been drafted and updated once already. This is an area we feel View Royal can assist by providing templates and advice. In addition, as we go about our daily work and research, we will forward resources and information that may be of interest to each other, for example, public education ideas, flood risk mitigation for Portmore and earthquake/tsunami risk mitigation to View Royal.

Identification of instruments for risk management:

View Royal shared emergency operations support and incident command systems as well as our process for evacuee assistance and management of the public in an emergency or disaster. Although View Royal is a small municipality, the organizational structure can be expanded easily to a larger local government infrastructure.

Public Education was a significant topic in many of our discussions and presentations. While there are many excellent programs available, View Royal showcased the Great Shakeout earthquake drill, which we feel would not only be beneficial to Portmore, but Jamaica and other Caribbean countries. This campaign has spread to several states in the USA as well, and is gaining global attention. The event can be tailored for a simple drill or be used as a catalyst for a larger exercise with the end goal of creating public awareness, a culture of preparedness, and capability to respond appropriately to earthquakes. Of note the Shakeout campaign in BC was initiated and chaired by Victoria and Saanich Emergency Managers.

Portmore has developed public education materials that View Royal may use as a template in some of their material. For example, Portmore has created a poster with a map of the municipality detailing where evacuation centres are in relation to neighbourhoods. This poster also includes key planning and response messaging for the public.

Strengthening of the campaign through identification of technical resources for risk management:

We identified and provided web links for evaluating Community Emergency Preparedness through a provincial survey, as well as a self-evaluation for hazards risks, and vulnerability analysis. We introduced our Portmore visitors to other planners, and emergency managers who wish to continue dialogue and resource sharing in the area of Climate Change action as well as Disaster Risk Reduction. These people have been great technical resources to our own Emergency Program, and we believe they will be able to provide professional advice and experience in assisting Portmore to advance their own initiatives. Some examples of the technical resources they can assist with include GIS mapping software, OCP and Climate Change Action Planning.

Dissemination of Information:

The Portmore Municipal Council ensures that visibility was given to the exchange programme by disseminating information via announcement at committee meetings, email to various contacts. We also had a feature of the programme published in the Jamaica Gleaner, dated September 16, 2013 which gives the exchange national attention.

Exchange Participants (list of Local Government Offices/NGOs and names of participants)

Sixteen (16) people from View Royal and the Greater Victoria area and twenty eight (28) people from Portmore and other agencies in the exchange. The following are the names and the departments of the people who participated in the exchange:

• The View Royal Fire Department and Emergency Program:
  • Fire Chief Paul Hurst, Director of Emergency Management
  • Lt Troy Mollin, Emergency Program Officer
  • Cindy Heslop, Deputy Emergency Program Coordinator
  • Bryan Rivers, Deputy ESS Director
  • Brian Huber, Deputy ESS Director
  • Jack Dennet, Emergency Radio Coordinator
• Town of View Royal Staff:
  • Kim Anema, Chief Administrative Officer,
  • Sarah Jones, Director of Corporate Admin and Services
  • Lindsay Chase, Director of Planning and Development
  • John Rosenberg, Director of Engineering
• Town of View Royal Council:
  • Graham Hill, Mayor
  • Heidi Rast, Councillor and Protective Services Chair
• Saanich Emergency Program:
  • Deputy Chief Frank McDonald, Emergency Program Coordinator
  • Captain Brock Henson, Emergency Program Officer
• City of Victoria:
  • Rob Johns, Emergency Program Coordinator
  • Steve Young, Planner/GIS Tech
• Capital Regional District
  • Travis Whiting, Protective Services Manager
  • Jeff Weightman, Planning Analyst
• Emergency Management British Columbia
  • Ralph Mohrman, Regional Director
  • Kelly Kryzanowski, Manager of Integrated Preparedness
• Federal Resilient Communities Working Group
  • Laurie Pearce, Chair
• Portmore Municipal Staff:
  • Kerry Chambers, Chief Administrative Officer
  • Nicole Condappa, Director of Planning, Development and Environment
  • Phillipa Ricketts, Disaster Coordinator
  • Nigel Moore, Road and Works Overseer
  • Percy Walcott, Driver and Tour Guide
  • David Rose, IT Specialist
• Portmore Council:
  • Leon Thomas, Acting Mayor
  • Yvonne McCormack
  • Alric Campbell
  • Anthony Wint
  • Fenley Douglas
  • Oral Gunning
  • Horace Brown
  • Ainsley Parkins
  • Keith Blake
• WaterFord Fire Department, Portmore
  • James Lee
• Half Moon Bay Fisherman Cooperation
  • Christopher Brown, President
• ODPEM
  • Ms. Keneisha Clair
• St. Catherine Parish Council
  • Mrs. Patricia Lewis, Parish Disaster Coordinator
  • Nine (9) Volunteers

We are appreciative of the opportunity granted by the UNISDR to the Municipality of Portmore and the Town of View Royal to share and exchange experiences in DRR and CCA. This we believe will strengthen our capacity as we work towards achieving DRR through the use of the Ten Essentials Checklist.