HALIFAX: As part of Emergency Preparedness Week, the Halifax Regional Municipality is encouraging all residents to know their risks and be prepared.
Know your risks – do you live on a coastline, floodplain or area prone to wildfire? Plan accordingly.
Be prepared – have an emergency kit, sign up for hfxALERT, know your contacts, know where to find important information (like insurance documents) and understand support services, such as comfort centres, during emergencies.
Get involved – consider volunteering with the Joint Emergency Management Team, which is activated during emergencies to coordinate humanitarian aid and provides support year-round through community emergency preparedness.
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The impacts of COVID-19 and severe weather events, like Hurricane Fiona, continue to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness.
The Emergency Management Division is focused on ensuring the safety and security of residents, their properties, and the environment by providing a timely and coordinated response to an emergency situation.
Residents have a big role to play when it comes to ensuring their own safety. All residents should be prepared to be self-sufficient in their home for 72 hours in case of emergency.
To stay informed about emergencies and operations, residents are encouraged to sign up for hfxALERT, the municipality’s mass notification system. Subscribers may receive urgent and non-urgent notifications by phone, email, and/or text message.
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During emergencies, the municipality communicates with residents via public service announcements, web updates, social media (@hfxgov) and hfxALERT. Residents may also contact 311 for more information about emergency operations.
To support Emergency Preparedness Week, the municipality is running a contest to bring better awareness about knowing your risks and being prepared. To enter the contest, take the emergency preparedness quiz. Those who answer all questions correctly will be eligible to win an emergency kit valued at $50.
The draw will take place the week of May 15.
For more information on being prepared for an emergency, visit our halifax.ca/emo.
