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In BC and other places in Canada, dangerous wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense. The fires, and the large-scale mobilization efforts involved, are the new normal; A symptom of a warming climate — an “era of global boiling,” says the United Nations.
How can we better prepare our communities for the terrifying prospect of leaving our homes and belongings to reach safety during evacuations? And how can we recover from these grim losses?
Two experts from the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads weighed in. Robin Cox and Jean Slick are both professors in the Disaster and Emergency Management graduate programs.
In an interview with Rohit Joseph for CBC’s On the Island, Cox breaks down the considerations that go into emergency response and our individual responsibilities to plan for evacuations.
In interviews with CBC Early Edition, Daybreak Kamloops and CBC News, Slick spoke about the importance of mobilizing a recovery for those who have been evacuated or have lost their home to the fire. She also discussed misinformation during an emergency and why public alerting and official sources are critical to the response effort.
In an interview with the Canadian Press, Slick spoke about the specific needs of medical and long-term care patient evacuees, who are often moved far away from their families or informal support networks.
Listen to the Early Edition interview.
Listen to the Daybreak Kamloops interview.
Read the CBC News piece.
Read the Canadian Press piece.
In an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, Cascade Institute Polycrisis Research Fellow Michael Lawrence and Founder and Director Thomas Homer-Dixon examine why so much of public discourse about disaster and crisis is focused on the cause.
Read the full piece in the Globe and Mail.
Learn more about the Disaster and Emergency Management programs, the Cascade Institute or request more information.