The city has applied for two grants totalling up to $180,000 in emergency preparedness funding.
One of the grant applications is for almost $30,000 from the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).
The money would be used to purchase up-to-date equipment and supplies to improve communication with the city’s emergency operations centre (EOC) during a large-scale emergency or disaster.
A recent staff report to council states that communication in an emergency is done through the Abbotsford Amateur Radio Emergency Services Society (AARESS).
However, the EOC lacks adequate equipment to communicate with the AARESS “accurately and in a timely fashion,” according to the report.
If approved, the grant money would also go towards training.
The second grant application is for up to $150,000, also through the UBCM from the Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation funding stream.
The money would be used to purchase up to 20 cameras and five additional water-level sensors on Matsqui and Sumas prairies.
A staff report to council states that the devices would be located along dikes and major creeks and streams.
“The purpose of these cameras and sensors is to support staff with real-time data during extreme-weather events,” the report states.
Installation of the purchased equipment would be covered by existing operating budgets, the report adds.
vikki.hopes@abbynews.com
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