2560 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Sidney fire crews arw responding to Bradford Avenue following a report of a deck fire.

[Mike K.]

Emergency crews across the region are stretched to their limits as the wind storm takes down trees, power line and causes all sorts of damage.

 

Follow VV's Facebook page for the latest on what's happening around the region.

[LJ]

VicHockeyFan, on 12 Mar 2016 - 3:53 PM, said:

.

 

In just New Orleans, during Katrina, 147 police officers did not report for work (15% of the force), and that was a disaster that only killed 1,300 people over a few states.  An earthquake that kills 50,000 will be much worse for first-responder no-shows.

That's because they were out looting. Has to be the most corrupt police force in the US. If it isn't I don't want to know what is.

[AllseeingEye]

That's because they were out looting. Has to be the most corrupt police force in the US. If it isn't I don't want to know what is.

For those who read the primary post incident report in fact about one third (not 15%) of the NOPD actually failed to respond to the disaster effort - not because they were looting but because they simply abandoned the city in their department-owned vehicles. A few - a very few - NOPD officers were ultimately found guilty of vehicle theft.

 

In the post incident report "Disaster Realities in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:Revisiting the Looting Myth" the authors concluded that “.......[post-disaster] widespread looting [is] a myth”, and supposed incidents were vastly overstated by the mainstream media, ultimately fueling a climate of suspicion and paranoia which greatly hampered rescue efforts and further worsened the conditions of the survivors..."

 

Simply put the NOPD was completely overwhelmed by the conditions resulting from a direct hit by a storm the size of Katrina.

 

I highly doubt in similar circumstances the VicPD could do much better, considering along with the usual police responsibilities of combating crime and above all in a regional disaster maintaining civil order, merely for starters NO emergency personnel had to contend with infinitely greater numbers of hospital patients - thousands in fact and from multiple major hospitals - than would a smaller city like Victoria. And incidentally in weather conditions - 100+ F temperatures and well over 100% humidity - that we never encounter here....

 

Thankfully for the NOPD the US military was able to assist by sending in thousands of National Guardsmen - a service we do not have available to augment our emergency responders; the very few reserve Army units we have in Victoria would be inundated and subsumed very quickly by the sheer magnitude of a similar emergency - assuming they were alive and in a position at all to assist - in the aftermath of a major earthquake, for example. In addition thousands of hospital patients in New Orleans, many of them of the critical care and post-operative variety, were able to be medi-vac'ed to safety only due to the insertion of US military heavy lift Chinook helicopters - an asset we also sorely lack in this country - that were able to literally hover on hospital parking garages and evacuate dozens of patients in one airlift.

[sebberry]

It is nights like tonight when it's nice to break out the scanner and see what problems emergency crews are attending to and where.  I had to go out this evening and knew ahead of time that there was a tree with wires down on the route I would have taken and was able to completely bypass the trouble.

 

The mainstream media is terrible for reporting events *as they happen*, the police never do a good job of informing the public *as something happens* and even social media is relying on tuning into local public safety radio system to let people know what's happening. 

 

Damn you CREST for switching to a secure system soon and for keeping law abiding citizens in the dark and clueless as to what's happening in the community in real time.

[AllseeingEye]

It is nights like tonight when it's nice to break out the scanner and see what problems emergency crews are attending to and where.  I had to go out this evening and knew ahead of time that there was a tree with wires down on the route I would have taken and was able to completely bypass the trouble.

 

The mainstream media is terrible for reporting events *as they happen*, the police never do a good job of informing the public *as something happens* and even social media is relying on tuning into local public safety radio system to let people know what's happening. 

 

Damn you CREST for switching to a secure system soon and for keeping law abiding citizens in the dark and clueless as to what's happening in the community in real time.

Good point - and consider a "night like tonight" is nothing compared to a real disaster. Its peanuts. All you have to do is watch the video of the 2011 Japanese quake + tsunami to get a rough idea of what a worse case scenario here might look like. Hell 5 years later they are still cleaning up the mess, with thousands of damaged buildings as yet to be rehabilitated, or demolished, thousands of residents still displaced from their homes, and more than 2500 people still unaccounted for......

 

I've parroted it from various subject matter experts in the field before and I will do so again: in the event of a major regional disaster in this area you better be prepared to be fully self sufficient for a minimum of 72 hours - minimum.

 

Given the inevitable aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake here (and who knows, a possible follow on tsunami?) - broken and shattered infrastructure including the arterial road system, our airport runways, multiple fires - potentially uncontrolled - dead or incapacitated emergency response personnel, inoperative or destroyed emergency equipment and above all the relative scarcity of emergency resources in BC and Canada - those same experts strongly suggest you need to be able to support yourself and your family for possibly up to 5 or more days. Bank on it.

[VicHockeyFan]

The good news is we have lots of water around, mild temps. and nobody but the most frail need food for at least a week after (you can go three weeks before health effects even kick in).  So we are not so bad off, if you are not injured.

 

HAVE some real cash money put away, that might be all that buys you stuff for quite a bit.

[Mike K.]

For the second time this morning fire broke out at a Queen Street motel. Residents were first alerted to a fire at the rear of the building just after midnight. Victoria fire crews with Saanich crews returned just after 7AM following another report of fire. It's been quite a hectic night for residents of this building.

 

More photos coming later.

 

 

 

[VicHockeyFan]

That's what happens when you have a wild west Cool Aid building next door.

[sebberry]

Sounds like it's proving to be a bit of a stubborn fire. 

[sebberry]

Fire crews are now requesting chainsaws to gain access to a stubborn hotspot.

[Nparker]

Ideally, first ensure all residents and staff are safe, then let this dump burn to the ground.

[HB]

The fire is burning behind the walls next to a chimney. They are exposing the chimney from bottom to the roof

[Mike K.]

There are videos on VV's Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/VibrantVictoria

[HB]

[Nparker]

Tear 'er down.

[VicHockeyFan]

Oh ya, that's in bad shape.  And it's not like Kimpton to ever repair anything.

[HB]

They cut through each ceiling next to the chimney right up through the roof

[Nparker]

It will be easier this way to collapse this dump in on itself.

[sebberry]

It will be easier this way to collapse this dump in on itself.

 

Oh come on, you don't want this gem added to the heritage list?