Plan for flood and fire now
Business Recovery subject of lunch hosted by chamber
Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
That’s the advice from the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce as it organizes a workshop on how companies should start planning now for business interruption if flooding, fires and smoke become a reality again this year.
The Business Recovery lunch at the Coast Capri Hotel runs noon to 1:30 p.m. on April 25.
Tickets are $43 for chamber members, $52 for non-members, at KelownaChamber.org.
A panel of experts will speak from experience of helping businesses and communities.
Former City of Kelowna manager Ron Mattiussi directed the Regional Emergency Operations Centre during the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 residents in just one night.
After retiring from the city earlier this year, Mattiussi became a consulting to advise communities on emergency management and crisis leadership.
Leann Hackman-Carty of Economic Developers Alberta helped Fort McMurray recover economically after a 2016 forest fire forced the evacuation of all 80,000 residents in the area.
She has also advised flood-impacted communities in Alberta.
As well, Hackman-Carty has become an author and just released Master Your Disaster, a handbook for families, businesses and communities for readiness, response and recovery.
Scott Crockatt, Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s marketing and communications director, worked with businesses affected by the city’s worst natural disaster ever — the flood of 2013.
Initially, 43 per cent of businesses impacted by the flood were expected to close.
But with quick action, only one per cent did.
The Calgary chamber won and international award for its response to the flood.
All three speakers will basically be asking businesspeople if their company is prepared to withstand the repercussions of a natural disaster.
“Your business is not just a source of income,” reads the bulletin for the lunch. “It’s the foundation on which you have built your dreams. It’s your livelihood and perhaps even an inheritance for your children. Ensuring your business is able to withstand the instability that ensues after a natural disaster is of the utmost importance.”
Insurance to cover damage and any time your business is down is important.
But so is protecting your business physically, as much as possible, by making it flood-and-fire resistant.
A plan for getting yourself, your staff, your family, your customers and your assets out of harms way is also paramount.
Alarms have already started to be rung about the possibility of flooding and fires in the Okanagan this spring and summer.
The snowpack on the mountains is at 152 per cent of normal.
Sudden hot weather combined with rain just before or after would mean a rapid melt rushing into all the creeks that empty into Okanagan Lake. Flooding along creeks and of the lake, just as happened last year, would be the result.
If it’s a long, hot and dry summer, forest fires and smoke become an issue.
The combination of flooding, wildfires and smoke last year scared off tourists, which in turn hurt the economy.
A swollen Okanagan Lake damaged docks, flooded waterfront properties and led to a ban of motorboats for a good chunk of the spring and summer.