WEYBURN - Weyburn city council enacted a smart move on Monday, as they passed the bylaw for the establishing of an Emergency Measures Organization, to help them be prepared for any scenario that might hit the city.
It might surprise some people that such a group was not already in place. There were instances in the past when emergency training and tabletop exercises were held, but this hasn’t been the case in more recent years, and with changes in legislation, it was necessary to enact a new bylaw for this organization.
The best scenario is to have no need for an EMO to be set in motion, and for the most part, Weyburn has not had to deal with very many incidents of emergencies.
The fact is, emergencies by their very nature do not announce themselves, and can occur with very little or no warning. Take the instance of a tornado – Weyburn hasn’t seen one go through the city in a very, very long time, if ever, but if a wild thunderstorm should brew up on a hot and humid day, it could happen.
There is no way to predict if or when such an occurrence might take place. The city has had some big storms hit, such as the huge dump of snow this past spring, and it took a few days for the city to dig out of the heavy wet snow that fell.
In the same way, a tornado or other wind storm could hit, and there needs to be protocols and procedures in place so that those in charge of public safety know how and when to act, and how to help people hurt or displaced.
Back in 2011, Weyburn was hit by a fairly major flood. Volunteers hit the streets along with public works employees and emergency personnel, and while they could not do anything about the Souris overflowing its banks, they were able to help out as best they could those who were impacted by the flood waters.
People who came through that experience will know first-hand the importance of having the ability to respond to an emergency.
We may go for decades before ever seeing a flood like that again, or it may come upon us without warning with a major dumping of rain.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if things get really, really dry, grass fires could become a real danger. It wasn’t very long ago there was a major grass fire near Mainprize, and a great many fire fighters and other emergency responders came out to fight the fire.
Emergencies of this sort cannot always be prevented, but the impact on residents can certainly be mitigated and hopefully minimized, if there is something in place to address the problem and deal with the impact on the populace at large.
It’s never a bad idea to be prepared, and the best hope is that you will never have to use it.
