N.S. minister blames municipalities for delay in emergency alert in last week’s flood
The Nova Scotia government is criticizing municipalities for their decision not to request an emergency alert during flooding last week that killed a 13-year-old boy and caused extensive damage.
In a letter to mayors and warden sent today, Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr said that normally an alert must come from the municipalities because they are “best positioned” to prepare how messages are worded.
However, Lohr says that as more than 100 millimetres of rain fell in a few hours on the western and central regions on July 11, the province had to take the “extremely unusual step” of issuing an alert on its own at 8:30 p.m.
That was three hours after reports describing submerged, impassable roads and people having to flee their homes were coming in from first responders, and one hour after RCMP received a call about a youth disappearing in a drainage ditch in Wolfville, N.S.
Lohr says in his letter to the municipalities that as the province works on legislation to modernize the emergency alert system, he’s expecting municipalities “to be more vigilant in issuing alerts.”
Recordings of radio calls made Thursday evening by the fire department of Kings County, which includes Wolfville, indicate that residents were already calling in about extreme flooding around 5:30 p.m. AT, describing rescues around the region.
