New Westminster fire chief Tim Armstrong will lead a city delegation to the East Coast of the United States to evaluate post-disaster efforts in areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
City council unanimously approved a motion from Coun. Chuck Puchmayr suggesting that the city send emergency operations centre representatives to New York and New Jersey. Armstrong will assemble a team of experts to evaluate on-ground, post-disaster efforts, with a focus on federal emergency agency reconstruction centres, business restoration and startup, New York restoration centres, school relocation programs, electric services redelivery and other pertinent information.
Armstrong will report back to council about an itinerary and trip participants, who could include representatives from police, engineering, electrical utility departments and the school board. In addition, he said that a representative from the chamber of commerce may attend to gauge response from a business perspective.
"We have been directed to go gather as much data as we can," Armstrong said.
Armstrong expects that local representatives would visit areas in New York, including Staten Island, Fire Island and the Rockaway Peninsula.
Armstrong said one the "hardest hit" areas was electrical utilities. With the City of New Westminster owning its own electrical utility, he said it's likely there would be some lessons to be learned on coordinating electrical services in the event of a large weather event in this area.
Armstrong said it's likely the trip will take place in January, when the event is fresh in everyone's mind, but organizations have had time to respond to the effects of the hurricane that hit the East Coast on Oct. 29.
"Right now, you can't rent a car in New York. A lot of the hotels are being used for people who are displaced," Puchmayr said. "It wouldn't be fair to put that on local authorities when they are in recovery mode."
During his time with the Vancouver Fire Department, Armstrong was part of a team that responded to Hurricane Katrina and went to New Orleans.
"I can honestly say the education I got from going down there was invaluable," he said.
Armstrong said that tens of thousand of dollars in education can't compare to seeing firsthand how people deal with a disaster situation.
"It was a life-altering event for me," he said. "The networking and the ability to reach out to other communities have been invaluable."
Given the potential for bureaucratic red tape following an emergency, Armstrong said the networking will be valuable for New Westminster.
"If New Westminster was in trouble, I have a great network that I could reach out to," he said. "It's all about networking and partnerships and making those relationships."
Armstrong said there are times when it's important to reach outside beyond your own area to get information that may help with the city's emergency planning efforts. He believes the trip is well worth the money it will cost the City of New Westminster.
"I would say that it's educational," he said about his message to taxpayers.
Puchmayr said he's been doing some research on what is happening back east and believes there's great value in sending a delegation there.
"There is a real opportunity here to take advantage of things being learned on the ground," he said. "I think it would be good to have a group of our experts to go there and see it firsthand."
While people can read technical materials, Puchmayr said there's nothing like viewing post-disaster sites firsthand.
"When you are there and you see it, it would be so overwhelming and daunting that the lessons would be incredible," he said. "You can't buy that in a classroom."
No budget has been established for the trip
