HRM needs better evacuation planning during school hours: councillor

What would have happened if, instead of on a Sunday afternoon, the spark that ignited a wildfire that burned through Tantallon had come 20 hours later?

“How do you evacuate the high schools, the middle schools, the elementary schools?” asked Coun. Pam Lovelace (Hammonds Plains – St. Margarets) on Sunday.

“The buses aren’t at the schools and the drivers aren’t on duty between pickup and drop-off. Right now we don’t have a plan from the Department of Education on what they need from HRM EMO.”

This province and Lovelace’s district in particular (which includes Upper Tantallon) has suffered two natural disasters this year alone.

On Tuesday, Lovelace’s motion calling for HRM’s chief administrative officer Cathie O’Toole to work on an evacuation plan with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will be up for a vote at Halifax regional council.

The motion calls for the development of an evacuation plan for schools, an outlining of the roles, responsibilities and resources needed from HRM and a timeline for holding both table-top and full scale exercises.

Where school buses may not be available on short notice, Lovelace said HRM city buses could potentially be rerouted. But that comes with its own set of complications that would have to be worked out, including where to bring the children.

“This is a provincewide concern,” said Lovelace.

“Whether it’s HRM, CBRM or Kings County, we need to know what the plan is and parents need to understand what the plan is. The last thing we want in an evacuation zone where buses are relocating students is to have parents driving through that area trying to find their children.”

And there are many different kinds of emergencies.

While there were fires and floods this year, it could be any manner of cause for evacuation in the future.

“What does the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development need from the municipality to support them?” said Lovelace.

“Right now, we don’t know. I want to find out so parents can be assured that both the regional municipality and the province are taking this issue seriously.”