B.C. prepared to use Alert Ready notification system as storms continue, minister says

Vancouver -

B.C. officials urged residents to avoid all non-essential travel as the province deals with the second in a string of three storms and prepares for the final one.

"We're in the middle of one of the most intense series of storms that we have seen along coastal B.C.," said Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth at a news conference Sunday morning, as highways between the Lower Mainland and the Interior remained closed and residents of an Abbotsford neighbourhood evacuated in anticipation of more flooding.

"This is historic weather, intensified by climate change," the minister said.

Farnworth asked British Columbians to "hope for the best and prepare for the worst," and said the province is prepared to use the Alert Ready emergency notification system as necessary in communities as weather-related challenges arise.

As of earlier this month, B.C. was the only province in Canada that hadn't used Alert Ready at least once since it became available to provinces in 2019.

Tracking on Alert Ready's website now indicates that B.C. has used the system twice for civil emergencies in 2021. 

The system allows emergency officials to send notifications to all cellphones in range of specific cell towers in a given region, but B.C. has primarily used it in province-wide tests over the last three years.

Provincial officials came under significant criticism for failing to activate the system during the devastating storm that closed highways and flooded Abbotsford's Sumas Prairie earlier this month. 

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said at the time that it was his decision not to send an alert, saying he didn't want to alarm the entire city. 

Alerts can be more targeted than that, however, and Farnworth said Sunday that the province is prepared to support local officials in using the system in the coming days. 

"Should a community or communities feel that there is an imminent threat to life or public safety, the province stands ready to issue what we call a broadcast-intrusive alert," Farnworth said. "Local governments are the experts on the ground, and emergency managers at the local and provincial levels will continue to closely co-ordinate through the days ahead."